Politics & Government
Neighbors Peeved at New Drive-Thru Approval
Planning & Zoning approves a special permit for a fast-food drive-thru restaurant at the corner of Richmond Drive and the Post Road.
A recent decision of Darien Planning & Zoning will bring a new drive-thru to the Post Road and the possibility for a much-feared increase in traffic to Richmond Drive.
The commission announced Tuesday evening the approval with conditions and stipulations of a special permit request to modify the existing property and parking lot at 205 Post Road (formerly a drycleaners), and establish a healthy fast-food drive-thru restaurant. It's a business model that owners Thomas Toepke and Gertrude Allen Wood say will help end the obesity epidemic and neighbors fear will end in nothing but a big fat traffic disaster.
"We don't want to have the business fail; we just want it to peacefully coexist in the neighborhood, and we don't think it can," said Richmond Drive resident Joe Pizzarelli.
The proposal for the drive-thru, its location at the intersection of the Post Road and Richmond Drive, first came before the commission at a public hearing in late November and once again in late January. The major concern heard from commission members and neighbors alike was with regards to a potential traffic increase, a variable that's hard to predict given the novel business philosophy.
"We have to judge how successful the food establishment is going to be, and that seems an almost impossible task," said member M. Reese Hutchison.
The plan is to widen the driveway entry off of Richmond Drive, allowing for two entry lanes: one for first-timers, and a second for repeat customers or those who have called, faxed or emailed in their orders.
Conditions in the special permit approval also require a simplified menu to speed up the order and pickup process and call for "no queuing on Richmond Drive."
Applicants say the traffic plan is carefully engineered for a "worst case scenario." And if traffic is still a problem, Gleason said the owners would consider someone to direct traffic, work with police on a "no right turn" policy, or even take online-only orders during peak hours.
Neighbors don't buy it.
The intersection at Richmond Drive and Post Road is one of the most dangerous in town, said resident John Price. The applicants' proposed solution of managing traffic through pre-orders is unrealistic, he said.
"I really don't think that you're going to email your order to McDonald's," said Price.
Other neighbors spoke to the already increased volume of traffic due to the recent addition of the Darien Diner to the end of the street. Moreover, the neighborhood is home to many young children.
"Sure, we live near the Post Road, but when many of us moved here, those properties were the home to very different businesses," said Pizzarelli.
The traffic concerns weren't enough to deny the application, but they did not go unheard. Chairman Fred Conze urged Director Jeremy Ginsberg to contact the state Department of Transportation to look at the Richmond Ave. and Post Road intersection.
"That whole area is an absolute disaster," Conze said.
Pizzarelli said that where he appreciates the owners' attempt at opening a healthy fast-food restaurant, he doubts it will succeed.
"I just don't think there's the demand for that kind of food in Darien, especially with that new burger place," he said.
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His lasting concern is that the special permit approval sets precedent for any future business.
"If it succeeds, it will bring an increase in traffic, and if it fails and we're left with the zoning," he said.
As a condition of the approval, any future use of the site is subject to Planning & Zoning review.
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