When Sergio Mendoza and Hercilia Corona purchased the property at 230 County Road they had a clear plan for the future. 

The owners of the Madrid European Bakery & Patisserie in Wayland Square in Providence planned to turn the former ice cream shop in Barrington into their second bakery location. They envisioned a cozy space that offered a variety of tasty treats including a full espresso and coffee menu, and dozens of pastries and different desserts.

Those plans were put on hold for months, however, while Mendoza and Corona faced an unexpected challenge with their property. 

Before Mendoza and Corona were able to open the doors to their new location, the owner of an abutting property erected a chain link fence that blocked vehicle access from the parking lot entrance behind the business.

“We were so heartbroken,” Corona said. “Everything was going well up until that point. We were so excited to be bringing this (bakery) to town. It’s like a dream, and then all of a sudden this happens. It came crashing down. It has had a lot of negative effects even before we opened the doors.”

Corona said the blocked entrance and exit behind the properties has created an unsafe situation — “It’s created a really big problem just for ongoing operations, but we’re the most concerned, I really mean it, for the safety,” she said. “Somebody’s going to get really hurt. Some kid is going to zip over here on a bicycle and something’s going to happen. They’re going to feel terrible about it.”

Anthony DeSisto is the attorney for St. Angelo Realty Co., which owns 236 County Road. DeSisto said the contractor hired by the bakery’s owners was utilizing without permission the property that had been used as an entrance and exit to the parking lot at 230 County Road for years.

“I think, from the St. Angelo side, the interactions they had with the contractor were not satisfactory,” DeSisto said. “They were utilizing the property. There was no request. They just did it.”

DeSisto said there is no written agreement allowing use of the St. Angelo property by the owners of the bakery. He also said there was no written agreement allowing use of the St. Angelo property by the former owners of the property either. 

“The agreement was never formalized,” DeSisto said, adding that allowing an easement for that part of the parking lot would result in a decreased value for his client’s property.

DeSisto said he met with a town official and the attorney for the owners of the bakery this past summer and hoped to discuss a settlement. DeSisto said the other attorney was not interested in discussing a settlement. 

Familiar with the parking

For years, the former business that filled 230 County Road — The Daily Scoop ice cream shop — enjoyed two entrances to their parking lot. There was an entrance off County Road just north of the business and there was a second entrance and exit through the parking lot at the rear of the property. 

“When we came to purchase it, it was still operating as the ice cream business, The Daily Scoop,” Corona said. “We were able to see the dining room and the kitchen and it seemed like the perfect spot for us to change over from what they were doing to the concept we wanted to bring. There was no fence, at that point.

“We are Barrington neighbors. We live in town. We frequented the ice cream shop with our family, so we were very familiar with the parking.”

The entrance and exit behind the business traveled past a drive-through window that had been used by the former tenant of 236 County Road, a Brooks Pharmacy. 

Corona said that about two months they purchased the ice cream shop property, the owners of 236 County Road stopped by with some news.

“They walked up and asked if we were the new owners. I said ‘Yes,’ and they said, ‘We’re thinking of putting up a new fence. It’s going up in two days,’” Corona said. 

“I said, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, we haven’t had a conversation. That’s our point of egress.’ 

“They made no comment. They kept saying it’s their right. It’s their right to protect their property.”

Corona and Mendoza questioned why the neighboring property would want to put up a fence. 

“If there’s some real reason, if there’s some benefit they’re trying to gain, I thought maybe we could have a conversation where we could make it safe … figure something out,” she said. “They would not engage in any kind of conversation. The only thing I know is they believe it to be their right to put one up and so they’ve chosen to do that. I honestly cannot think of any benefit to them.”

Immediate impact

Corona said the construction of the fence had an immediate impact on their business. 

“It slowed down our building permit,” Corona said. “The city wouldn’t issue us a permit because it was unsafe … it continues to be. Having one way to go both in and out was deemed unsafe by the town, so they held off on our building permit because they said they wouldn’t be able to issue us an occupancy permit. In good conscience they couldn’t let us build. 

“We had to basically agree with the town that we wanted to take the risk. That we were willing to take the risk. They wanted to protect us from the expense… if they weren’t certain we would be able to open. They made us agree in writing that them issuing us a building permit would not guarantee they would issue us an occupancy permit. We were taking a major gamble, saying we were going to move forward with investing all of our savings in this place.”

Corona said she and Mendoza are not real estate developers — they are just bakers who wanted to open up a new shop in their own town. 

Corona said they were hoping to open Madrid in the summer, but were unable to do so.

“We were hoping to catch the ice cream wave,” she said, adding that they had to wait until Dec. 9 to finally open their doors. 

“It took an entire year to get us going. We lost the original contractor. We’ve had other issues because of the fence,” Corona said. “Equipment can’t get in and out. When we had to put in a wheelchair lift to be compliant, we had to break cement to do that. The machines that do that couldn’t get into our building, couldn’t drive in through the driveway to do that. So it slowed down our construction significantly, for no reason.”

Corona and Mendoza shared their concerns with town officials, and on July 8, 2024, Teresa Crean, the town’s former director of planning, building and resilience, issued a notice of violation to the owner of 236 County Road — St. Angelo Realty Co. and its president John St. Angelo. 

In the notice, Crean cited a 2022 zoning board decision that had been issued for the drive-up ATM located in the parking area behind 236 County Road and the neighboring Shell gas station. 

“The approval required an approved entry/exit configuration for the property,” Crean wrote, later adding “Now, you have erected a fence in violation of this zoning approval and is inconsistent with the plans on which this zoning approval was based. This is a zoning violation, in violation of the conditions of approval for the above-referenced application and inconsistent with the plans upon which such approval was based…”

Crean’s notice of violation ordered St. Angelo to remove or relocate the fence and reinstate two-way traffic behind the businesses. 

A short time later, DeSisto filed an appeal with the zoning board of review. DeSisto argued that Crean was wrong to file the notice of violation and order the fence to to be removed. 

“The Director’s conclusion is in error as the referenced condition relates to ingress and egress to County Road over lots 249 (occupied by the Shell Station) and 250 (occupied by the Washington Trust),” DeSisto wrote in the appeal. “The Director’s Notice of Violation suggests that the conditions also dictates ingress and egress through lot 297 (formerly occupied by the Daily Scoop); such a condition was never made a part of the zoning decision. As such, the Director’s conclusion is erroneous.”

DeSisto wrote that removal of the fence constitute a taking of his client’s property. 

The appeal went before the Barrington Zoning Board in October 2024.

During that meeting, assistant town solicitor Peter Skwirz said he had reviewed the 2022 approval issued by the board for the drive-through ATM and added that removal of the fence was not a taking of the property.  

A number of people spoke during the meeting — Corona said the entrance and exit behind the business was a key factor in their decision to buy 230 County Road; Kris Chwalk, the listing agent for 230 County Road, referenced a 2001 planning board decision and added that the buyers purchased the property in good faith of having that access; and John McCoy, an attorney for the new property owners, spoke about public safety concerns. 

But it was DeSisto who apparently offered the most compelling evidence. The local attorney told members of the zoning board that the 2022 decision made no reference to the entrance and exit at the rear of the property. 

A short time later, Ladd Meyer, a member of the zoning board of review, made a motion to grant the appeal and allow the fence to stay. David Rizzolo seconded the motion, which carried 5-0. 

Wrong issue

Corona said the town may have erred when deciding to issue the notice of violation based on the 2022 approval. 

“Losing the appeal I believe has to do with them issuing a violation notice on sort of the wrong issue,” she said, adding that the outcome may have proven to be different if officials had cited a 2001 Barrington Planning Board approval for the original construction of the building at 236 County Road. 

“When they were originally issued their building permit, a condition of that was that there would be two-way traffic through the back,” Corona said. “So they moved forward with the building.

“They’ve had multiple legal arguments with the previous owner (of 230 County Road) of The Daily Scoop. I didn’t know this when I purchased the property. I probably wouldn’t have purchased the property. I didn’t know I was buying a headache. They had been back and forth for years about (the neighboring property) wanting to put in a fence that divided the properties. He (the owner of The Daily Scoop) argued against it and won, two times. He based it upon the 2001 (approval) and at some point it was just land use, the history of the land use.”

Corona said she has heard that the owner of 236 County Road actually created the two-way traffic behind the building. 

“They are actually the ones who painted the arrow and opened that originally, which they’re now trying to close,” she said.

“I believe it is not within their right to try to close off something that’s been established for 20 years, that goes against the safety of everyone. That’s my argument… It would be a lot safer for everybody coming in and out of this lot and the people who are driving on County who are having to deal with … the mess that happens when someone’s trying to get out and come in the same time is significant, every time.”

Not finished

Corona said the push to re-open the rear entrance and exit is not over. 

“We’ve had to push pause on it. We haven’t given up. The Christmas holiday is huge for bakeries. It makes or breaks you. We had to be open for that. Now that that’s behind us, we’re not giving up on the issue,” she said. “We’re going to try to figure out a way around it. Go back to town hall, to get the exit specifically back. We’d like to get the whole fence down because it’s cut into two of our parking spots and it makes a very narrow entry, but we at least need to get the back open again.”

Corona said she is hopeful that the rear traffic access will be reopened. In the meantime, her business continues to face additional challenges.

“It’s inconvenient to us currently. We can’t have a normal dumpster because the opening we have is too narrow for the truck to come and empty. We’re bending over backwards just to have trash service,” she said.

“Our delivery trucks are … the very first delivery, they chipped the side of the building because they don’t fit there. So when they’re coming to deliver our milk or whatever, they’re having to park in the middle strip and cross the street like a video game, so it’s putting them at risk. All of our delivery folks are not happy with the current situation. It creates a traffic jam every time we have somebody deliver milk. That’s not ideal for the town.”

Corona said the current traffic situation for her parking leaves customers facing a difficult situation. 

“I feel terrible because people will get trapped back here,” she said. “They’ll walk back in the building and say ‘How do I get out now?’ Ignoring the one-way arrow and driving into oncoming traffic. You’ll see the panic in peoples’ eyes. They don’t want to do that.”

Corona said she also approached the owners of the properties south of Madrid European Bakery & Patisserie, hoping to create a new traffic access with their parking lots.

“We reached out and connected with the owner next door. He owns both the Golden Bowl and the Piezoni’s property. They said absolutely not, they could not help us out, they would not open it. We couldn’t compel them to start a new (traffic) pattern,” Corona said.

Madrid European Bakery & Patisserie opened their doors in town on Dec. 9 and have been greeting customers ever since. Corona said some of the customers have taken to parking elsewhere when visiting the bakery, or walking from their homes. 

She said many customers have shared their support for the new business. 

“We started to regret, why did we get in this mess to begin with. We just wanted to have a bakery in town. Now that the doors are open, we have felt so much support from the people who come in,” she said.