Parlor Bird, a community cafe and bar for acoustic music and crafts, won licensing approval Tuesday for an under-construction building at 151 Cedar St., along the Community Path between Davis and Magoun squares. The business isn’t likely to open until next year.
It’s been a 10-year dream of owner Emily Balkam to open a space such as Parlor Bird, she told commissioners, and it sounds like a peaceful dream.
“It’s kind of like a Victorian parlor-esque space, like the opposite of a sports bar,” Balkam said. “There’ll be no screens. It’s going to be an unplugged environment, with a piano and acoustic guitar playing. We really want to think of it as the old-fashioned parlor where people can come together, share conversations, unplug. I’m excited to invite in crafting groups, or clubs, whatever the community is interested in doing.”
The elements have been coming together on social media as Balkam, her business partner and friends sample the pastry they will sell, shop for vintage lamps and sofas to outfit the place and explore branding and custom windows that follow a stained-glass aesthetic.
Yet the location in a mostly residential area and with plans for 49 indoor and outdoor seats, open until 10 p.m. with music and adult beverages, has worried a few neighbors, who came to the Licensing Commission meeting to express alarm. “Introducing a restaurant with a full liquor bar, live entertainment and outdoor dining will completely shatter the peaceful character of our homes and the public path,” said Denise Uzzell, of Alpine Street. Another neighbor noted that the previous uses at the space were offices, and worried about traffic and rats.
Other residents of Alpine Street, Rex and Elizabeth Hung, were mainly pleased by the Parlor Bird concept but noted its proximity to bike lanes. “There’s the issue of safety, given the presence of alcohol, especially rather late at night,” Elizabeth Hung said. “While I do support the idea of a community establishment, I think it would be difficult to control if people were to get a little bit rowdier.”
Supporters were greater in number, and enthusiastic – the word “excited” came up 14 times during public comment from people who looked forward to having a neighborhood cafe and bar. Among the comments in favor:
“It is awesome how it’s, A, not in a major square and, B, family friendly,” said Kelsey Coffin of Partridge Avenue.
“I have lived in dense residential neighborhoods like this my whole life, and I’ve lived next to [examples of] this cafe and bar concept and there’s never been any issues,” said Alison Ventura, of Cedar Street. “It’s always been a delightful asset to the neighborhood.”
“I’m actually really excited about the prospect of acoustic music, because I don’t think you get enough of that in our area. To be able to relax in the evening, quietly listening to maybe someone playing an acoustic guitar while I sip a cup of coffee at the end of a long day is just really, really lovely,” said Dorothy Zarren of East Somerville.
The debate was largely moot. The space is zoned for commercial use that allows all of what Balkam proposes for Parlor Bird, commissioners noted.
All commissioner votes were in favor.
Chair Joe Lynch agreed that the “concept of this bar is not a sports bar, it’s not Tony C’s, it’s not going to be loud rowdies … I don’t think the biker crowd is going to be flocking to Parlor Bird,” but he and member Christopher Allen urged Balkam to meet with her nearest neighbors and address their concerns – and for the neighbors to come to the commission if there were problems.
Balkam’s LinkedIn profile says she studied business at Cornell University and has worked at mission-based businesses such as organic baby food makers before a nearly six-year stint at the MBTA. She understands neighbors’ concerns, she said, but plans to install soundproofing tiles to add to an architectural approach that should spare neighbors the noise of strummed guitars, tickled piano keys and conversation.
There’s just the nature of Parlor Bird to consider, Balkam suggested – a place for quiet crafting over pastries.
There is expected to be music, but “the noise level is meant to be low enough so people can still have conversations next to it,” Balkam said.
Not all comments during the meeting could be heard or deciphered; the city streams and records meeting audio and video, but the “Meeting Owl” device that captures audio within the chamber makes much of the testimony garbled and unreliable.
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