Sally Levi loves coffee more than life itself. Her 74-year-old mother loves ice cream more than life itself. Now, Levi’s dream is to open a business that offers both of those things in the backyard of her home that looks out on Rockland Harbor.
But it hasn’t been easy, with the proposed ice cream stand facing pushback from neighbors as Levi has spent six months getting it off the ground and approved by the city.
After realizing there are few places for people walking on the Rockland Harbor Trail to stop and eat, Levi and her partner decided to open the snack shack in an old shed at the back of their property on Crescent Street, which can be accessed from the trail.
It’ll be called Newty’s Little Shack By The Railroad Track.
Now, they’re trying to secure final permission from the city’s planning board and city council for a business that they say will primarily cater to pedestrians who are using the trail or beach. But neighbors of the business have been putting up a fight for several months.
During a planning board meeting on Tuesday, about a half dozen people raised concerns about the project. One of them, Debbie Kalloch, said she was concerned that the ice cream stand would bring more noise, traffic and clutter to her neighborhood.
“The original zoning for this property was befitting our working waterfront, not an invitation all these years later to permanently transform the character of our quiet and peaceful neighborhood into a commercial zone,” Kalloch said.
However, a greater number of supporters — about 10 — spoke in favor of Newty’s on Tuesday night.
Understanding that she’s bordered by residential zoning, Levi said in an interview that Newty’s will use residential-level lighting and won’t be open late into the day. Despite a rule that restaurants in Rockland need at least 10 parking spaces, Levi has applied for her shack to be able to have fewer than that.
The issue of parking spaces has become the biggest lightning rod, with neighbors and planning board members alike worried that the business will bring even more parking demand to already-crowded streets. Customers could park at nearby Sandy Beach, but residents worried that would remove parking spaces for other visitors.
Levi’s vision, though, is that park-goers may continue to use the park after getting ice cream at Newty’s. She said she’s willing to have fewer customers if it means cutting down on parking spaces.
“If pedestrian-zoned areas are created, it’s better for the class system, it’s better for kids, … and it makes it more accessible to people,” Levi said.
After compromises and reworked applications, Levi said she’s in the final stretch of opening Newty’s. She has one more city council meeting to attend in May, where the group will vote on allowing her to adjust the city-owned fence in her backyard to allow pedestrians to visit the snack shack. After she receives the green light, she can start work on the shop and hopes to open in July.
Levi said she never wanted her proposed ice cream shop to become a “war” with the neighbors, and she hopes once it opens, they’ll end up loving it.
Her mother wants to work short shifts at Newty’s once it’s open, Levi said, and if it gets bigger, she may hire some local teenagers for shifts. She hopes it’ll feel like a traditional mom-and-pop shop, evoking the experience of stopping for her ice cream in her childhood.
“You feel like you go back in time for just a minute,” Levi said. “It’s like a simpler life, for just a second.”
