“Being on the same level as everyone else”: he asks for a terrace for his fast food restaurant, the City declines because it wants to restore rue Maguelone

For Samir El Abassi, owner of Chicken Street, rue Maguelone, not having the right to a terrace is an injustice. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

Why the others and not Chicken Street, whose interior nevertheless has a great allure ? The Montpellier city hall wants to regain control of this axis between the train station and Comédie and says it is thinking about "requalifying" it. Perhaps only after that, a solution will be considered…

The address is worth the detour. Fast food lovers will appreciate the above-average quality. And architecture and heritage enthusiasts will love the immense glass roof covering the large room as well as the period fireplace or the original tiles and floors of what was once the Grand Hôtel d’Angleterre. Vestiges of the past classified as Bâtiments de France. And which earned the new partners an additional budget for work: around 40% more than the initial budget for the €200,000 to €300,000 ultimately invested. The manager and co-partner, Samir El Abassi, is not complaining. What he mainly regrets, without anger but with real disappointment, is not being able to use the terrace. An obvious loss of earnings which deprives him of a substantial turnover on which he was counting.

The boss: “I had already bought the equipment”

“I worked for eight years in the telephone industry, with an executive salary, I wanted to start out, I put all my savings, he explains. With my brother and brother-in-law, we took out loans. First of all, we didn't think we'd put so much into the work, we did it out of our own pockets, without a subsidy from the Bâtiments de France. So we were counting on the terrace. I had already bought the equipment. A terrace means eight months of sunshine, and it's visibility. Now, you can't even see me.” The terrace is a no-brainer for this boss. And all the more so since the other establishments on rue Maguelone have them.“It's either for everyone or for no one. We were told that a decree had been issued in 2021, but establishments that have since set up shop have still been entitled to a terrace, and we haven't ? I just want to be treated the same as everyone else.”

The elected official: “A terrace is not automatic”

For Samir El Abassi, the injustice is so obvious that he has no doubt that a solution will be found. It's a possibility, but it may take longer than expected. Sébastien Côte, deputy mayor in charge of security, has no timetable to offer him. “We are talking about public space, the elected official clarifies straight away.A terrace is not automatic. In the summer of 2023, we decided not to renew them automatically. Why ? Because we are preparing for the future. Eventually, we will carry out an urban project for this street. We will redevelop it. In the same way as the Comédie, the Esplanade… Or the Place Castellane that the terraces had taken over so much that you could no longer see the square. We said stop. Rue Maguelone does not currently have the commercial offering that the beauty and quality of the place require. It is uneven, with a lot of fast food. There is some very good and some more questionable.” These remarks echo those of the mayor, Michaël Delafosse, who, on several occasions, has taken this axis as an example with low-quality businesses.

The case of the neighbor…

But where the shoe pinches the most is that the Italian restaurant IT, whose official address is rue de Verdun and which already has a terrace on this sidewalk, is apparently going to install a brand new one on the Maguelone side, right next to the fast food restaurant. A real injustice for the owner of Chicken Street. But conversely normal for the deputy mayor, since the request for a terrace from IT dates back to April 2022, according to him. However, he has no doubt that a solution can eventually be found with the fast food restaurant. He continues: “Let's understand the rule: the City is at home in public spaces. Today, we refuse any new terrace. But eventually, once we have a clearer idea of ​​the subject, perhaps we will authorize some again. How many ? On what surface area ? When ? We don't know yet. We are thinking about what we want to do with rue Maguelone and when we know, each manager will be contacted and we will discuss a number of things.”

A door that is not definitively closed then. Samir El Abassi will have to wait. If his finances allow him to.

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