Boon Street Market license renewal

A South Kingstown councilor spoke in support of the license, praising the market as a community gathering place and major employer and citing its charity work.

Walked the council through five years of approval documents, arguing the business was approved at 129 occupancy but operates near 443, with too few bathrooms and repeated violations; asked for renewal only at the approved occupancy.

Described vehicles, including a boat, parking in front of his Summer Street home, and urged the council to solve the parking overflow, warning he will act if the town does not.

Described hearing loud music from Boon Street at 1:31 in the afternoon and urged the council to enforce the rules and restrictions already in place.

Described cars blocking Congdon Street, reckless driving near the park, public urination, and litter, and asked the council to hold the market to its 129-person occupancy.

Speaking for the neighborhood, catalogued 9-plus violations, nightly noise after the 11:30 clear-out, police incidents, and parking crises, and proposed closing the patio by 10 p.m. and the business by 11 p.m.

A lifelong Boone Street resident said the market has made the neighborhood unsafe and sleepless, urged the council to act before someone is seriously hurt, and said residents will not be pushed out.

Asked council members by a show of hands whether they had visited the market late at night to grasp conditions firsthand; endorsed neighbors' testimony.

Argued community well-being must outweigh business profit, detailed failures of noise enforcement and bathroom capacity, and proposed a slate of restrictions including the plainly-audible-at-100-feet standard.

A 30-year Boone Street resident thanked President Menzies for his late-night walk-throughs, warned of the slippery slope of 1 a.m. closures spreading to other businesses, and asked the council to stand up for residents.

A former councilor who voted on the original license recounted warning about the 1 a.m. closing and lack of occupancy limits, and said the business has morphed into something harmful to residents.

An abutter asked how the market can operate at three to four times its capacity and declared it fundamentally a nightclub in a neighborhood.