Neighbors fear that bucolic Cape Elizabeth could become a bar-crazed Old Port if a popular local eatery is allowed to begin serving alcohol.

Nothing could be further from the truth, says Mary Page, owner of Rudy’s of the Cape.

But that hasn’t kept neighbors from predicting “noisy, rowdy and sometimes dangerous” patrons, plummeting property values and unsavory new neighbors.

“People are just blowing this totally out of proportion,” Page said. “This is ridiculous … People talk about things they know nothing about. Nobody came to me.”

Faced by a new convenience store on Ocean House Road that she fears will sap her carry-out business, Page wants to increase seating, stay open longer and offer alcohol with meals. She said Rudy’s will remain a laid-back, family restaurant where locals can grab a good meal at a good price and kids are welcome.

“It’s not a bar,” she said. “And I hate that term. People come here, they meet, they eat. It’s just a nice gathering spot.”

But the fact that Page in November got a liquor license, approved by the state and town allowing her to sell beer and wine to diners, has some neighbors scared and angry. Page says state law allows her to sell beer and wine until 1.m., and although the doesn’t intend to on a regular basis, she’d still like to have the option for the occasional private party.

“It seems distressingly clear that her intent is to change Rudy’s from a neighborhood store and convenience counter into a bar,” neighbors Rhea and Morris Kreitz wrote to the Cape Elizabeth Planning Board earlier this month.

While two other nearby restaurants serve alcohol, the Kreitzs wrote, The Good Table and Ocean House Pizza serve it as a complement to food, and both close at 9 p.m.

“In short, we believe she envisions operating a bar that serves some food, rather than a restaurant that serves some drinks,” the couple wrote. “We are concerned about the inevitable noisy, rowdy and sometimes dangerous late-night behavior of inebriated patrons …No Cape Elizabeth neighborhood ought ever be mistaken for Old Port’s Fore Street.”

Page said she began looking to expand the restaurant part of her business when she realized that Jonesy’s Service Center was planning to open an On the Run convenience store and would likely take much of Rudy’s convenience store business. Jonesy’s is located at 298 Ocean House Road, a first stop for people heading to the shore in Cape Elizabeth. Rudy’s is located farther down, at 517 Ocean House Road.

“Jonsey’s is going to be a big, beautiful new building,” she said. “People are going to stop there when they come (into Cape Elizabeth). We had to do something in order to survive.”

To stay afloat, she decided to expand her dining, offering the same fare but with a few more seats and the option of a glass of wine or beer to accompany it.

Page quickly ran into trouble. In January, she received a notice of violation from the town code enforcement officer for allegedly keeping her business open past 10 p.m. and adding about 14 seats, enough to seat 29 people. Town code enforcement officer Bruce Smith instructed her to stay open no later than 7 p.m. and to reduce the number of seats to the historical 15 indoors, or 20 if she removed some outdoor seating.

When Page submitted old menus indicating the restaurant had stayed open until 9 a.m., Smith agreed to let Rudy’s stay open until that time, but insisted Page would need to get Planning Board approval to expand the number of seats.

“I expect that with your timely submission of an application, there will be no reason that the review process will continue beyond May of this year,” Smith wrote in a letter Jan. 16.

But that was not the case.

Earlier this month, the town got a legal opinion from its attorney stating that Rudy’s – and most, if not all, businesses in the area – don’t conform to the existing zoning and therefore are not allowed to expand or change their use in any way.

In a March 4 e-mail to town councilors, Town Manager Michael McGovern suggested the town should perhaps reconsider its zoning, since “the current zoning does not allow for any substantive changes in any of the businesses in the area.”

The town is now considering a technicality that would reduce the buffer zone required around wetlands from 250 to 100 feet, making businesses like Rudy’s compliant instead of noncompliant, and thus allowing them to make changes in their operations.

Rudy’s neighbors are not happy. They’ve sent a deluge of negative letters to the town offices, and about a dozen people attended last week’s Planning Board hearing, where the zoning amendment was on the agenda to be discussed, even though it was not a public hearing and they were not allowed to speak.

“(Page’s) current request to allow additional outdoor seating of 54 patrons and serving them beer and wine until 1 a.m. is unfathomable,” neighbor Michelle Buckley wrote to the Planning Board. “I cannot imagine the additional traffic congestion an additional 84-plus patrons will bear on our community, should you change the zoning laws per her request.”

Neighbor Carole Taylor predicted a dire future for Cape Elizabeth if Rudy’s is allowed to expand its seating and hours.

“Instead of patrons quietly sipping Ch(a)teau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac 1986 and discussing jazz, yachting and philosophy, imagine a more lively and raucous collection of patrons swilling Night Train and Rolling Rock and arguing feverishly about the New England Patriots’ last game until 2:30 a.m. (parking lot after closing),” she wrote.

The predictable result, she wrote, is that property values would fall, nearby homes would be converted into apartments for the young and less affluent, and the community would fall victim to “blighting.”

Page scoffed at fears Rudy’s would attract a hard-drinking bar crowd.

“People aren’t driving to come here,” she said. “It’s a neighborhood (store).”

Page does have her supporters, although their comments to the Planning Board have been less voluminous. Wabun Road resident Nancy Lemieux described Page as a “kind and concerned citizen of the community, willing to help out many causes, and always offering a helping hand when needed.” She urged the town to allow Page to expand so she can make a “decent living.”

Jessie Timberlake, of Hunts Point Road, said she thinks a bar would be “a great place for the locals and local workmen to meet after work” and “a solid addition to our neighborhood and the Cape, in general.”

“Change is inevitable,” Page said. “If you purchase (a house) next to a business zone, you have to realize that’s what it is – a business zone.”

And if businesses can’t adapt, she said, they can’t make it.

“If I sell this place and somebody buys it, then they will tear it down and it will be gone forever,” she said.

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