Planned Waltham Burrito Restaurant Raises Parking Concerns

The plan to propose drew some concerns over parking from Waltham City Councilors during a Monday, Aug. 6 public hearing at

Boloco, a Boston-based company whose named stands for "Boston Local Company," has proposed opening a new store at 475 Winter St. The company, during a public hearing with the Waltham City Council on Monday, requested a special permit to operate a fast food permit. 

“They are very excited to be coming into the Waltham community,” said Boloco's attorney, Joseph M. Connors.

STORE SPECIFICATIONS

• The store would be located at 475 Winter St. in the sites of the former Wine Cellar and Copy Cop, according to Boloco's attorney Joseph M. Connors Jr. The store would span 2,263 square feet in the 39,000 square foot building that overlooks the Winter Street bridge, Connors said.
• The store would seat 60 people and serve food to go, according to Connors. It would operate seven days per week from 7 a.m. - 10 p.m
• The site would not feature a bike rack, or delivery serivce, according to Boloco CEO John Pepper, who attended the public hearing. 

COUNCILOR'S CONCERNS/THOUGHTS

• City Councilor Thomas Curtin said he was worried about whether the site would have an adequate number of parking spaces. “I have a concern that we are excerbating a problem that sooner or later is going to be dangerous,” Curtin said. 
• Currently, there are 184 parking spaces at the site, according to Connors, who added there would be no way to expand the current number of spaces. 
• City Councilor Robert Logan suggested painting new stripes in the parking lot to allow for compact cars, thus more total parking.
• The project's traffic engineer said he did not believe the project would further burder the area with additional traffic, but City Councilor Edmund Tarallo said that study was done before
• City Councilor Joe Vizard supported the project saying it was the kind of business needed in that area and hoped Boloco would use local union workers to do any necessary renovations.

The matter was referred to the council's Ordinance & Rules Committee for further discussion at its Sept. 17 meeting.