Staff Writer 

Cape Elizabeth residents filled town council chambers near its maximum capacity for Monday night’s meeting, the first time Councilor Jim Rowe took the council chairman seat.

“If I knew I could fill a room this size, I would have gone into the clergy,” he joked.

After serving beer and wine to patrons for nearly a year, Rudys of the Cape restaurant applied for a renewal of their “malt and vinous restaurant license” on Monday. Town Manager Michael McGovern said he had discussed the license with both the police and fire chiefs, who acknowledged several incidents at the restaurant – including public urination and reckless driving – but ultimately showed their support for the renewal.

“There was nothing, to them, that blew off the paper,” he said. 

Nearby property owner Morris Kreitz said he remembers a very different type of establishment prior to Rudy’s serving beer and wine.

“The change has had big implications,” he said. “I’ve witnessed disruptive behavior that did not occur before the license was in effect. Bars have no place in Cape Elizabeth neighborhood districts.”

Other abutters also said they had witnessed people urinating in Rudy’s parking lot and heard several cars squealing their tires as they left after dark, and resident Dan Fishbine challenged the council’s authority to even consider renewing the license at all.

“Rudy’s is a grandfathered, non-conforming use in a restricted wetland zone,” he said. “There has been a substantial change in use [that needs to be re-approved.]”

McGovern said Code Enforcement Officer Bruce Smith determined there was not a substantial change that would require Rudy’s to undergo a permitting process to comply with zoning standards.

Two Lights Road resident Donald Kennel said preventing Rudy’s from serving beer and wine could be detrimental to the “neighborhood place” it had become and will not solve complaints of neighbors.

“I see all of these things right where I live,” he said. “A guy stopped by my driveway to pee in the woods, I was fascinated. People do this, it has nothing to do with Rudy’s.”

The council unanimously approved the renewal of the beer and wine license and encouraged residents to communicate among themselves rather than at a public forum.

“It’s important to open the lines of communication rather than building walls,” Rowe said.

STOPLIGHT DELAYED 

 McGovern said he nearly witnessed an accident at the intersection of Shore Road, Scott Dyer Road and Route 77 on Tuesday, only hours before a public hearing on installing a $1.1 million stoplight at the intersection.

“I have never seen a pedestrian [almost] hit there until, ironically, today,” he said. “Today it didn’t happen, but there is that issue.”

Resident Gwenyth McGuire said she too witnessed the close call when traffic began to back up and Marcus Donnelly, a sixth grader, tried to cross the street and was nearly hit by a driver sneaking around another car making a turn.

“I thought it was probably my child,” Councilor Cynthia Dill said. “We’ve spent money on pools, the Greenbelt and fields and we have a beautiful school campus children can’t get to safely. We have a town a freeway goes through and nobody can cross.”

Other residents were not convinced a stoplight would make the intersection any less dangerous; Laurel Grassin-Drake said she reviewed several Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) studies of accidents that had occurred there decided a stoplight would not help the situation.

“Stoplights cause a reduction in fatal and angle collisions but increase rear-ends,” she said. “The kind of accident we get is not the type a traffic light is going to help.”

Councilors David Backer, Paul McKenney and Sarah Lennon said they were in favor of disbanding the project – which McGovern said would cost $20,000 in reimbursement fees to MDOT – for financial and public opinion reasons.

“I don’t think we can ignore the fact that it is an unsafe intersection,” McKenney said. “There just is not enough public support to put this light in place.”

Rowe said he would “never regret voting for [public] safety,” regardless of the price tag.

“Your safety comes first, above everything, above $1 million,” he said. 

Councilor Anne Swift-Kayatta said she originally preferred to send the project to bid to begin to understand the final cost, but changed her mind when McGovern informed the council if they sent the project to bid, it could cost more than $230,000 in MDOT fees and right-of-way purchases.

“To me, it’s a really crazy system,” she said. “Why spend $115,000 to buy right-of-ways when you’re not even sure you want to do it yet.”

Ultimately, the council unanimously approved Kayatta’s suggestion to table the issue until May 2009.

“I will tell MDOT to stop spending money,” McGovern said.