Late-Night Pancakes Pitch Nixed by Dedham Selectmen

Locals will have to find a different late-night spot if they want pancakes and eggs in the wee hours of the morning.

The Dedham Board of Selectmen on Thursday narrowly voted against allowing on Providence Highway to open 12-6 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Selectman Carmen Dello Iacono said he received mixed reviews when he informally polled residents.

“Others have come back and said, ‘It’s not the city of Dedham as of yet, so we’d like to stay a town. And the town comes with not having 24-hour operation,’” he said.

Appearing with Dedham attorney Peter Zahka, Terrence Case, a vice president for IHOP’s management company, requested an extension of hours to the restaurant’s common victuallers license.

If it had been approved, IHOP would’ve been open from 6 a.m. on Friday until 10 p.m. on Sunday.

“Clearly the location of this site was important to the business decision,” Zahka said. “Clearly, this is directly on Providence Highway and across the street is a water body, and it’s shielded on the other side by buildings before you come to residential property.”

Zahka’s pitch included a police detail between midnight and 6 a.m., and for it to be on a six-month trial basis.

Case said if they had received permission, IHOP would not request any more 24-hour days in the future.

Selectmen Michael Butler and Jim MacDonald contended that the noise of car doors slamming and trash bins banging at 4 a.m. would awaken homeowners in Riverdale.

“Sound will travel across that river at nighttime as if the building was right next door,” Butler said.

Selectmen acknowledged that in the summer, the noise might not reach Riverdale – which is across the four-lane highway and on the other side of the Charles River – but added in the winter trees aren’t full.

“I simply don’t want to expose the neighbors to it, and I don’t want people coming traveling to Dedham between midnight and 6 to get food. I think people in Dedham have some sort of expectation of rest,” Butler said.

The board kicked around several ideas to have the all-day breakfast establishment open during some parts of the early morning, but no other idea faced an up-and-down vote.

Selectmen voted 2-3 for allowing the original suggestion of 24-hour service on the weekends. Selectmen Paul Reynolds and Sarah MacDonald voted in favor.

“We’re not saying let’s open a bar, we’re serving pancakes for goodness sake,” Reynolds said.