A proposal to turn a shuttered restaurant into a catering facility for migrant families living in a Dedham hotel has divided the town, with some stating that the business proposition indicates emergency shelter will linger there for longer than planned.

Giri Dedham, a subsidiary of Giri Hotel Management, will appear before the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals Wednesday to request a special permit to allow for a “kitchen-only” facility at the former Victory Grille on Elm Street.

The shuttered restaurant is associated with the Fairfield Inn by Marriott Boston Dedham, which is one of two hotels in town being used to house homeless and newly arrived migrant families as part of the state’s emergency assistance shelter program, the other being the Holiday Inn.

The applicant is seeking a variance in town zoning from the ZBA, to allow for a catering business that would serve migrant and homeless families living at the Fairfield Inn, which is part of the Giri Hotel Management portfolio and is not currently taking reservations from the public.

The proposal calls for the former Victory Restaurant to be “restored from a vacant building to kitchen-only facility to produce food for the Inn at Dedham population,” Giri Dedham LLC wrote in a Jan. 18 letter included with the ZBA special permit application.

The applicant is also requesting, per the letter, that the catering facility service other locations that Giri Hotels has out to bid with the state, seemingly referring to other hotel properties that include emergency shelter.

“The requested variance model is the production of lunch and dinner meals for a maximum of 400 family members off-property to other Giri locations and their resident population,” the letter states, adding that 400 off-site individuals would be in addition to the roughly 400 approved people living at Fairfield Inn in Dedham.

There are 161 families, including newly arrived migrants, living between the two Dedham hotels, Fairfield Inn and Holiday Inn, that have been tapped as part of the state’s emergency shelter program.

The exact number of people living in Fairfield Inn is unclear, but using the state’s capacity limits set at Roxbury’s Melnea A. Cass Recreational Complex in Boston, 100 families was understood to be up to 400 people that could be housed there.

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What other locations would be served by the proposed catering facility in Dedham was unclear on Tuesday, given that the applicant did not respond to a Herald inquiry, the town was waiting for more information at the upcoming ZBA meeting, and the Healey administration was not able to provide details on the Giri contract bid referenced in the letter prior to deadline.

“It’s our understanding that their application is for locations under their management,” Amanda Smith, a spokesperson for the town of Dedham, said.

Holiday Inn, which is part of IHG Hotels and Resorts, is not thought to be included, Smith said while emphasizing that she could not speak for the applicant.

She said the town is awaiting further information that is expected to be revealed at the ZBA meeting, such as how many people are living at Fairfield Inn and what “off-property” locations would be serviced by the catering facility.

“What happens with the ZBA is under their purview,” Smith said. “We can only say that our building commissioner has reviewed the information and has recommended because of the zoning in that area that they are required to go before them.”

The Victory Grill closed in February 2022, when the Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office seized the building, Smith said.

Giri Hotel’s letter outlining a facility that would cater meals to migrant families created a firestorm soon after the town posted the week’s ZBA meeting materials, with nearly 40 community letters now included with the special permit application.

“I am completely against this use of more space in our town,” resident Andrea McElligott wrote in one letter. “This town has been overwhelmed with our emergency services, schools and financially we cannot continue this way.

“There is no plan in place by the state to get us out of this mess and we cannot allow our town to become a catering hub,” she added.

Another resident, Nancy Knight, stated that such a use would attract more “immigrants,” in that food would become another “benefit.”

Still, letters of support far outnumbered those submitted in opposition.

“I hope that the very vocal, uncharitable minority of Dedhamites who politically oppose the sheltering of refugees, and therefore oppose doing anything at all to help these families, will not be allowed to sway approval of this project,” Alyson Andresen wrote.