Fields Corner Papa John's approved with salad

The Boston Licensing Board today approved a proposed Papa John's at 1501 Dorchester Ave. in Fields Corner after the franchisee agreed to add salads, and possibly other healthy offerings to its menu - and to require all delivery drivers to make pickups through a rear door rather than clogging up the already crowded street out front.

All three board members said they were sympathetic to the issue of a small neighborhood being overwhelmed by junk food, but agreed opposition at a hearing yesterday was really more focused on opposition to yet another pizza place in the neighborhood - opposition that included the owner of a pizza place across the street - and "competition" is not an issue the board can legally consider in opposing a proposed food-serving license.

"I'm open to the argument that a small little neighborhood could be overwhelmed with bad food options," board member Liam Curran said. "For me, Papa John's I would say is an unhealthy food option." Curran said he didn't buy franchisee Joe Johnson's contention that Papa John's was somehow healthier because its pizzas, like pizzas everywhere else, are baked, not fried. Curran said Papa John's does sell fried stuff, "it's just fried somewhere else and they reheat them."

"At least some options on the menu allow it to not be as deleterious as some other fast food places," board member Keeana Saxon said, referencing her vote a couple years ago against a proposed Burger King on the Hyde Park/Mattapan line. But, she continued, "most of the opposition" was not about unhealthy food, but competition with nearby pizza places. "I was a little bit annoyed by it," she said.

In a city increasingly overwhelmed by delivery people on scooters, board members said they were particularly appreciative of Johnson's plan - submitted after a contentious hearing yesterday - to limit pickups to a rear door.

The board made the rear pickups a requirement on its license, which means that if police find food deliverers cramming out front, they can issue citations, which would require hearings before the board and possible sanctions.

Board members compared their impending vote in favor of the Papa John's to their vote a few years ago to doom a proposed Popeyes in Codman Square - which residents and community groups opposed as a purveyor of high-fat food and which never filed a plan on how it would deal with traffic.

Curran said there was "a very clear groundswell" against Popeyes based strictly on its menu, not the issue of it competing against nearby restaurants.

Board Chairwoman Kathleen Joyce, who noted the board wasn't even required to hold a hearing on Joe and Ralonda Johnson's application - because they are moving into the location of a previous restaurants - but did so because of the opposition to the proposal.

She said she objected to the way the Johnsons and their attorney, Dennis Quilty kept raising issues related to the business dealings of opponent and Antonio's Hi-Fi owner Brian Chavez - who previously operated a burger place at the proposed Papa John's location; in fact, she called it "out of line." But she said that on the merits of the application itself, she had to side with the Johnsons - in response to neighborhood concerns, they agreed to roll back the proposed closing time to midnight most nights and 1 a.m. on weekends and to restrict where delivery food can be picked up and add salads.

"I wasn't able to find it was not in the public good," she said.

Watch Wednesday's hearing: