City draws line: South Boston residents who want pizza after 1 a.m. will have to get it from Dorchester

The Boston Licensing Board today rejected a request from Domino's, 163 Old Colony Ave., to extend its closing hours for delivery service from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m.

The move comes after a heated hearing at which a Domino's executive and city officials and South Boston residents exchanged accusations of treachery and deceit.

Officials and Boston Police said the later hours would set a bad precedent for a neighborhood that already has problems with drunks spilling out of bars, increasingly out-of-control house parties and delivery people getting robbed late at night. One resident said the neighborhood just does not want more delivery vehicles operating past 1 a.m.

William Mohan, Domino's local marketing representative, gave the board a petition signed by about 200 residents in favor of late-night pizza delivery, said the South Boston Domino's franchise has done lots and lots for local community groups, pointed to residents who work late who want a bite to eat and said Domino's has an exemplary safety record. And he said two local civic associations - City Side and Andrew Square - voted to oppose the proposal at meetings from which he was excluded and then lied to about the results.

Referring to the 10 people he estimated actually showed up at the civic-association meetings to oppose Dominos, plus Mayor Menino, state Rep. Nick Collins and state Sen. Jack Hart, he told the board, "I'll call your 13 (people) and I raise you 200."

That did not sit too well with reps from the mayor's office, Collins and Hart, who said that while Mohan might have 200 signatures from God knows where, they had heard only complaints from actual South Boston residents and that not a single person had contacted them to support the idea. They added that the elected officials represent far more people than signed the Domino's petitions. City Councilor Bill Linehan neither spoke nor sent a staffer to the hearing.

The vote does not mean Southie residents can't get a late-night Domino's pie, just that it will be delivered from a franchise in Dorchester, which is licensed for 3 a.m., as are franchises in the Fenway, Allston and Charlestown.

At one point, Mohan tried to appeal to Southie pride. When board member Suzanne Ianella asked what was wrong with delivering pizza to South Boston from Dorchester, he asked, "Would you rather have people from Dorchester delivering to South Boston or South Boston people delivering to South Boston?"