War escalates between Wilmington neighbors, Italian restaurant

Christina Jedra | The News Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Feud escalates between Wilmington neighbors and restaurant A battle between a group of neighbors in Wilmington's Forty Acres community and Scalessa's Old School Italian Kitchen has reached a boiling point. 7/20/18

A battle between a group of neighbors in Wilmington's Forty Acres community and Scalessa's Old School Italian Kitchen has reached a boiling point.

What started with opposition to the Italian eatery's pursuit of a liquor license last month escalated to a litany of allegations from neighbors about the owner's disregard for civic rules.

In response, Don Scalessa, who owns the restaurant at Lincoln and Shallcross Streets, recently posted a flyer on his cash register naming and shaming his opponents for "slandering" him.

Both sides say they are being harassed.

"His motto is: Beg for forgiveness, not permission," said Alison Quinn, a resident in the neighborhood known for its commitment to maintaining its character. "You can’t do that."

Scalessa said he has tried to be cooperative but he feels beaten down by the neighbors.

"I'm exhausted by it," he said. "They've taken my passion out of this ... I'm worn out."

The dispute illustrates the lengths one of Wilmington's oldest and proudest neighborhoods will go to maintain its character.

"A home is the biggest investment one will ever make," said City Councilwoman Loretta Walsh. "If they feel that investment is under siege, they’re going to do everything they can to protect it."

A passionate neighborhood

A coalition of neighbors, a splinter group of the civic association, has been organizing for weeks against Scalessa, whose restaurant slogan is "My Way," a nod to Frank Sinatra that the group feels is all too appropriate.

In early June, the goal was to prevent the eatery from obtaining a liquor license. Booze in the neighborhood would be dangerous and invite rowdiness, neighbors said.

"If people are there drinking until 1 a.m., they could be driving drunk, hitting people, damaging property," said homeowner Phyllis Hines, a longtime Forty Acres guardian. "We just don’t need that."

Councilman Bud Freel, who represents the area, also said he is concerned.

"Once you introduce alcohol to a situation, the noise level goes up," he said. "I’m not opposed to restaurants and bars, but I believe they belong in commercial areas."

The "working group" launched a meticulous research effort to find evidence to support their opposition. They filed public records requests and uncovered numerous instances in which they said Scalessa thumbed his nose at city rules, including those meant to maintain the integrity of their historical conservation district.

Their investigation resulted in a 90-page slideshow presentation they were prepared to present at a June 11 zoning variance hearing, the first step toward Scalessa's liquor license.

It includes excerpts of city code, copies of Licenses & Inspections records going back decades, a petition and a map of the neighborhood color-coded to illustrate whose side each homeowner is on.

But it was never presented. Scalessa, who has owned the building for two decades and opened the restaurant in 2016, withdrew from the hearing after the neighbors informed the city he had unpaid property taxes.

"If you’re going to be careless about paying your taxes, are you going to be careless about running your business?" asked Hines.

The presentation alleged many other infractions including that Scalessa is violating zoning laws by operating a sit-in instead of takeout restaurant; that renovations he made to the building were illegal because he lacked proper permits; that the restaurant has operated as a BYOB without a license; and that the alterations were supposed to go before the design review preservation commission, which approves or prohibits particular changes in historic areas.

What's worse, according to the group, is that the city of Wilmington has failed to enforce the law pertaining to these alleged violations.

"Mr. Scalessa scammed the city, and our community paid the price," wrote 20 neighbors in a five-page letter to Mayor Mike Purzycki on June 18. "L&I was an enabler to Mr. Scalessa's dishonesty."

The city substantiated some of the neighbors' concerns. In a letter last week, Purzycki's office acknowledged that Scalessa should not have gotten on the zoning board agenda with unpaid taxes and that exterior renovations, including installing a sign, painting the brick and mounting an exhaust fan, occurred without permits or permission. Violation notices are being prepared, the city said.

Earlier this month Scalessa denied that his building is subject to requirements for historical buildings.

"I don't have to ask permission to paint the building," he said. "We've done everything by the law."

L&I Commissioner Jeffrey Starkey said Scalessa will need to either obtain belated permission from the design review and preservation commission for his exterior work or undo the changes. The department sided with Scalessa in allowing him to operate a sit-in restaurant and said they believe he operates a valid nonconforming use facility. The neighbors disagree.

If the restaurant was operating as a BYOB, it did so illegally, said Maj. Kevin Jones, deputy chief police for the state division of alcohol and tobacco enforcement. Scalessa's does not have a so-called "bottle club" license, although it has applied for one, he said.

Photos in the neighbor's slideshow, taken through Scalessa's window, show patrons enjoying bottles of what appears to be wine. The bottles are circled in red.

The neighbors are frustrated that it took their advocacy for the city to act.

"I don't know if they're incompetent or there's something more sinister going on," said Quinn. "It seems like nobody at L&I is looking out for us and nobody is double-checking anything ... What are you getting paid for?"

At a recent working group meeting, nine neighbors lamented what they said is the city's failure to address their concerns.

"We've done their jobs for them," said resident Dawn Alexander, with stacks of paperwork in front of her.

Starkey said he would not "get into a debate" about allegations of lax enforcement.

"There is a lot of passion in this neighborhood," he said. "I can appreciate that."

To strike back, Scalessa posted a notice in his restaurant sharing his perspective. It starts, "FOR THOSE ASKING ABOUT THE LIQUOR LICENSE, THIS IS WHY WE DON'T HAVE IT!"

"They see no need for a glass of wine with dinner, or even eating dinner. They would like us to close by 3," the sign states, referring to the hours of a sandwich shop that was located there.

The sign asks patrons for their support and lists the names and addresses of residents who he believes lobbied against him.

Some of the working group members took that as a threat.

"You don't follow the rules and you end up not getting what you want, so instead of still trying to build bridges with the community, you’re giving them the middle finger?" Walsh said. "That doesn’t sound like part of a good business plan."

Not in my backyard?

Forty Acres residents say they're just protecting what's theirs.

But for A. Kimberly Hoffman, a Wilmington land use attorney who has sparred with and lost to the neighbors before, the fight with Scalessa demonstrates Forty Acres' "zoning NIMBYism."

"It’s a shame the community members don't put the energy they could into supporting some of the things that make their community great and vibrant," she said of what she called Forty Acres' "Not In My Backyard" attitude.

"It's a hill many of them seem to be anxious to die on."

Scalessa said the issue may really be about parking, which is often scarce but is even more so with a sit-down restaurant in the area. Over a dozen photos of illegally parked cars were included in the 90-page presentation to support the argument that the restaurant is a nuisance.

"They've had their corner for so long, they feel like it's their corner," the restaurateur said, adding that the scrutiny is "brutal."

"Every time you turn, you can see them taking pictures."

Both Scalessa and the group of neighbors declined to be photographed for this story for fear of further escalating tensions.

Forty Acres is a place families stay for generations, Walsh said, and they fiercely protect their territory,

"Believe me, you wouldn’t want Phyllis against you," she said. "They do their homework. They’re lawyers, accountants, and paralegals and all sorts of folks who, this isn’t their first rodeo. They know who to call and how to get it done, and they get it done."

Hoffman represented the nearby Kentmere nursing home in 2016 when it wanted to raze two homes and build a parking lot. A coalition of neighbors, led by Hines, fought against the city's approval of the plan arguing it would detract from the historic value of the area. After a six-hour hearing, the neighbors won.

"To this day, I still can’t get my head around it," Hoffman said.

Last year, Forty Acres residents pushed back against the owner of the nearby Southeast Kitchen over its use of a deep fryer and its application for a liquor license.

The working group against Scalessa said that wasn't their project.

"Each block is like its own village," one member said.

Hoffman suspects defeating Scalessa's liquor license is part of a larger strategy to discourage commercial operations in the neighborhood.

"A lot of restaurants aren't in the black without a liquor license," she said. "I can’t believe someone thinks drinking a glass of wine with spaghetti is actually going to undermine their community interest."

In these kinds of conflicts, elected officials can find themselves in a tough spot, Hoffman said.

"It's the fear of politicians that if they don't bow to people's unreasonable expectations of controlling everything their neighbors do, they’re not going to get elected again," she said.

Hoffman would like to see more communities embrace a spirit of "Yes In My Backyard."

"(They could) help other property owners make those things happen instead of lying in wait for someone to do something productive with their property and then pouncing."

In response to the mayor's letter, the working group released a joint statement.

"We appreciate the time the mayor's office has taken to respond to our letter. It is a very helpful first step," they wrote. "We look forward to continuing the open dialogue with the city and our attorney."

Contact Christina Jedra at (302) 324-2837, cjedra@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ChristinaJedra.