PLEASE help us by signing our petition so we can stay in business! PLEASE do not donate to iPetition — we are NOT asking for money. We are ONLY asking for signatures. Thank you!

Rapscallion Table & Tap is a family-owned restaurant based out of a 1700s farmhouse owned by the Miquel family for generations at 5 Strawberry Hill Road in Acton, MA. Claude Miquel's beautiful, rustic property has a licensed capacity for 90 people. We have an existing secondary parking lot on our own property so that we can provide parking to seat our patrons. Unfortunately, we are zoned through an old bylaw in the Town of Acton to have 30 parking spaces. We have asked the Town to allow us to park cars on our own property so that we can continue to stay in business, but they have not worked with us on this issue or allowed us any variances. We are willing to partner to find a solution, but the Town has not provided any solutions other than to tell us we cannot park in our lot. In addition, after we opened in 2015, the Town disallowed street parking on Strawberry Hill Road (2018), which caused hardship for our overflow parking availability.

While we so appreciate the Town's employees and understand the Town has to enforce bylaws, they were written at a time when families had one car, roads were far less busy, and people walked to venues. Additionally, most other restaurants in Acton have overflow parking in public lots for their patrons. While we are allowed to use Gould's Plaza, there is a very dangerous street crossing from Gould's to our restaurant with no streetlight, and we worry about our customers. There have been multiple accidents at the intersection where our patrons are expected to cross. We have requested over the past eight years that a light be added to the intersection, but the Town has stated it is the State's responsibility, nothing has come of it, and we still have no solution. This is not a sustainable business model for us today as a 90 seat restaurant with 30 spaces. All we have asked is that we are allowed a variance due to our lack of safe overflow parking and the outdated bylaws which do not take into consideration today's traffic.

We have not asked the Town for anything other than to allow us to park more cars on our property. Without additional parking, we will not be able to operate our business profitably and we will have no other choice than to leave the Town of Acton. We are asking our valued patrons, community organizations, and friends to please sign this petition asking the Town to allow us to park in our existing gravel parking lot on our own property. We assure everyone that this costs the Town and townspeople nothing, affects nobody other than our own land, and would allow a small, family-run business to continue to operate. Rapscallion is owned by two brothers whose dad is the CFO, and we employ dozens of local individuals (who also need to park their cars) while serving and giving back to the local community. All we ask is that we be allowed to stay in business in the Town of Acton by allowing additional parking spaces on our land.

Thank you!

Cedric & Peter Daniel, Co-Proprietors

Rapscallion Table & Tap