Pembroke Zoning Board Approves Variance for Somewhere Else Tavern Tent

PEMBROKE -- April 23, 2025, Pembroke Zoning Board unanimously approves seasonal tent variance for Somewhere Else Tavern, conditioned on a new noise management plan. The board voted April 23 to grant the dimensional variance for 65 School Street, where the tent's corner sits five feet from a property line in a zone requiring 20 feet of setback, a product of the lot's irregular shape that the board said left no practical alternative placement. Representative Joe DiNubio of DiNubio Consulting LLC presented a sound-monitoring plan tied to decibel standards borrowed from Bridgewater, the nearest comparable community with a codified noise metric, along with a proposal to swap the stage and bar positions so music is directed toward a wooded rear of the property rather than toward abutter David Lee's home on Lantern Ring. Lee appeared at the hearing and said the concerns raised at a prior session had been adequately addressed. The variance remains contingent on Planning Board site approval and Select Board action on the liquor license and outdoor entertainment permit, with the Planning Board hearing set for the following Monday.