Topline
Two months after billionaire investor Charles Johnson took the owners of a proposed clam shack on Nantucket to court, the island’s Zoning Board of Appeals dealt the restaurant owners a key victory, voting unanimously on Thursday in favor of the restaurant—the latest development in an ongoing battle between restaurant owners and two well-heeled neighbors trying to stop the shack from opening.
The owners of a Nantucket restaurant hope to open a proposed sister restaurant in June, though a duo … [+]
Key Facts
The Nantucket Zoning Board of Appeals voted 4-0 to uphold the building permit of the Straight Wharf Fish Market—a proposed harborfront clam shack and restaurant in downtown Nantucket—finding the proposal appropriate for a commercial downtown zone, the Inquirer and Mirror reported, despite neighbors’ complaints the shack was an all-out overhaul from its previous use as an ice cream shop and fish store.
But the ruling is far from the end of the saga: In May, Johnson, the former chairman and CEO of investment firm Franklin Resources, filed a lawsuit in Nantucket Superior Court against the restaurant owners, as well as the town and the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission.
Johnson, whose Nantucket home abuts the waterfront property, claimed in the suit that the town and state’s approval of a wine and beer license “ignored” evidence presented at a licensing hearing on the “inappropriateness” of the license and the “negative effect” it would have on neighbors.
Restaurant co-owner Gabriel Frasca, a Best Chefs in America semifinalist, told Forbes at the time he plans to open the restaurant “as soon as possible,” adding: “I assume that our abutter will continue to litigate until he gets the answer he wants, which I believe unlikely to happen.”
For Johnson, the appeal is the latest in a series of attempts to block the 62-seat restaurant overlooking Nantucket Harbor from opening: In April, month, Johnson and fellow billionaire neighbor Charles Schwab, the founder and chairman of the brokerage firm bearing his name, unsuccessfully appealed the proposed shack to the town’s Select Board and Conservation Commission.
Key Background
Owners Kevin Burleson and Gabriel Frasca first proposed opening a combined seafood market and family-style restaurant in late 2021, aiming to complement the pair’s existing high-end establishment, Straight Wharf. The restaurant would sit on an active wharf surrounded by shops in a bustling commercially zoned area of Nantucket, a historic whaling community-turned-billionaire haven where the median household earns some $116,000 annually. After undergoing a major construction project last year, they received local approval for the new restaurant in March, despite heavy pushback from neighbors over traffic, trash and noise concerns. Frasca said at the time he wasn’t looking to create a “rowdy bar” or a restaurant with “loud music,” the Nantucket Current reported. In April, however, owners faced another hiccup when Johnson and Schwab’s attorney Danielle deBenedictis sought an appeal at the town’s Conservation Commission, arguing in a hearing the construction on the building, which sits on the site of a former soft-serve ice cream shop and fish market, violated its permit for work done in proximity to a wetland. The commission rejected a request for a cease and desist order.
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Johnson’s net worth at $4.8 billion, making the former leader of Franklin Resources—who took over the firm founded by his father at 24—the world’s 580th richest person. Schwab, who founded the namesake firm in 1971 at the age of 34, has an estimated net worth of roughly $8.2 billion, making him the 248th richest person in the world.
Tangent
Johnson and Schwab both have property on Nantucket’s Old North Wharf, a highly visible 500-foot residentially zoned wharf that juts out of Nantucket’s downtown commercial district into Nantucket Harbor. The residential road, which is lined with summer cottages, is known for its billionaire residents: Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife, Schmidt Family Foundation president Wendy Schmidt, also own property there. In 2021, Schwab paid $10 million for a pair of neighboring cottages on the wharf, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Further Reading
ConCom Rejects Call For Cease And Desist Order On New Clam Shack Restaurant (Nantucket Current)
Neighbor appeals clam shack liquor-license approval (Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/07/13/billionaires-vs-nantucket-clam-shack-building-permit-upheld-but-fight-drags-on-heres-why/