Stonington PZC approves Rosalini's supper club, Mystic building
Stonington — It’s the 1970s all over again.
On Tuesday night, the Planning and Zoning Commission approved a special use permit for a Westerly man to reopen the former Rosalini’s restaurant on Route 2 in Pawcatuck as a 307-seat supper club.
The commission attached a number of stipulations to its approval including reducing the number of outdoor volleyball courts from four to three and add additional screening between the club and adjacent residential property. Live music will be limited to 5 p.m. to midnight Wednesday through Friday and noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Back in the 1970s and 80s, large and sometimes rowdy crowds packed the former Rosalini’s nightclub on Route 2 to watch local and nationally known bands perform.
The club’s heyday ended in the 1990s, when it closed. Residents stopped a strip club from opening there in 2009. In 2000, a sports bar opened and was replaced in 2002 by the Fuji Gardens restaurant, which closed four years ago. Since then the property has become overgrown and vandals have damaged the inside, especially the electrical system.
Richard Mann of Westerly used to frequent Rosalini’s and now he plans to reopen it as a restaurant with dinner shows ranging from music to comedy. This summer he told The Day he hopes some of those old Rosalini’s patrons will return to a more sedate venue.
In addition, the commission approved an agreement in which it will allow construction of a partial fourth story as part of a proposed mixed use building on property across from the Mystic train station and the B.F. Hoxie firehouse.
The commission approved an agreement that resolved a court appeal filed by Hendels Mystic, LLC & Hendels Washington St., LLC. The two entities filed the Superior Court appeal after the commission approved the special use permit needed for the $1.8 million building in January but deleted plans for the fourth story because members were concerned about the size of the building that would be constructed on vacant property at 3 Roosevelt Ave. and 8 Washington St.
The agreement calls for eliminating sections of the fourth story in order to reduce the perceived scale of the building. The eliminated sections will become decks with solid railings accessible from the fourth-floor units.
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