South Street Diner backers: People who want peace and quiet should stay in Wellesley

Update: Board decides to let diner stay open 24 hours.

Neighbors and patrons of the South Street Diner packed a Boston Licensing Board hearing this morning, asking the board to let the long-time eatery continue to operate around the clock.

Michael Flemming said he and his wife moved to the area exactly because it's a bustling area, thanks in part to the diner, which has been open 24 hours for more than 60 years.

"Anyone who moved to the neighborhood expecting it to be Wellesley should not be surprised that it is not," Flemming said.

Some residents of a condo building across the street asked the board to limit the diner to a 1 a.m. closing because of what they said was excessive noise. The board took no action today, but could vote on the issue tomorrow.

None of the people seeking the limitation attended the hearing.

Diner lawyer Carolyn Conway said rolling back the diner's hours to 1 a.m. would force its closure.

She said that of the $1 million owner Sol Sidell grossed last year, roughly $900,000 came from meals served between 1 and 4 a.m. And its clientele includes firefighters, police, nurses, postal workers, employees of the steam plant and train station across the street, as well as people getting off I-93 and the turnpike, she said.

"We are serving a public need that is out there," she said.

"It's an iconic institution in the city of Boston," she said, adding the British Airways even uses the diner on posters in London to advertise its flights to Boston.

"The problem is you have people being disturbed - they can't sleep at night," board Chairman Daniel Pokaski said.

Conway said Sidell has attempted to contact every neighbor and address their concerns. She said the outdoor patio is shut at 1 a.m., Sidell and security officers kick out rowdy customers and that Sidell re-arranged the stanchions for people waiting outside to get in so that the line moves toward Kneeland, away from nearby residents.

Several nearby residents, including one whose building abuts the diner, spoke on its behalf. They argued that noise is part of the urban environment and said it's kind of silly to complain about a diner in a neighborhood that has locomotives idling around the clock, buses coming and going, emergency helicopters at all hours at the nearby Tufts Medical Center - as well as another all-night diner and late-night eateries in neighboring Chinatown.

Both the mayor's office and the office of at-large City Councilor Stephen Murphy sent representatives to support continued 24-hour operation.

Mike Butler of Chinatown praised Sidell: "I have never seen a more professional man, a more passionate man at what he does."