Shop to open on Brunswick Pike at end of summer.
By: Lea Kahn
Commuters will be able to make a pit stop for a doughnut and coffee on Brunswick Pike/Route 1, thanks to the Planning Board’s approval of a Dunkin’ Donuts shop, north of the Lawrence Lincoln-Mercury new-car dealership.
The Planning Board granted preliminary and final site plan approval to Lawrenceville Donuts, LLC Monday night, clearing the way for the new Dunkin’ Donuts to be constructed in a portion of the Fitness 2000 building at 2936 Brunswick Pike.
The plan calls for carving out 2,500 square feet of the 6,600-square-foot building for the doughnut shop. Fitness 2000, which sells exercise equipment, will remain in the building. There will be parking for 27 cars in front of the building and 12 additional spaces at the rear for employees.
Asked whether 27 parking spaces would be adequate, James K. Schreiber, development manager for Allied Domecq Quick Service Restaurants, said his company typically looks for 15 to 20 parking spaces. ADQSR operates 300 Dunkin’ Donuts businesses in the Philadelphia area.
Mr. Schreiber said his stores average fewer than 15 parking spaces per store, for both customer and employee parking. The customers are in and out of Dunkin’ Donuts in a short time, because there are not many seats in the bakery, he said. This store would have about 18 seats.
When Planning Board Chairman Tom Wilfrid asked what would likely happen if all of the parking spaces were full, traffic engineer Anthony Dougherty who represents the applicant said he thought the would-be patrons would leave the parking lot.
Municipal Engineer Christopher Budzinski said he thought a customer would park in an adjacent lot and walk back to Dunkin’ Donuts, but Planning Board traffic consultant Charles Carmalt said this store has more spaces than the typical Dunkin’ Donuts shop.
Attorney Thomas Letizia, who represents SSL Realty Holdings LLC, which owns the Mrs. G’s appliance store property and other lots adjacent to the proposed Dunkin’ Donuts store, said his client was concerned that customers would park on their property and walk back to the store.
Although there is a Dunkin’ Donuts store on Lawrence Road, across the street from St. Ann’s Catholic Church, it is not the same type of operation, Mr. Letizia said. If the parking lot is full, customers may park on one of the side streets off Lawrence Road, he said. There are no side streets off Brunswick Pike, he said.
Also, virtually all of the patrons of the Brunswick Pike Dunkin’ Donuts would be motorists, he said. The Lawrence Road store draws some motorists, but it also draws pedestrians who live in the neighborhood, he added.
Mr. Letizia said his client’s main concern is trespassers and the liability they would incur if someone were injured. He suggested putting up a fence along the property line, out to Brunswick Pike as close as possible without compromising drivers’ safety. It should be tall enough to prevent someone from climbing over it. This would discourage people from parking on SSL Realty Holding LLC’s property, he said.
Philip Caton, the Planning Board’s planning consultant, said he did not think a fence would prevent someone from parking on the adjacent property and walking back to the doughnut store. A fence would be "unattractive," he said, adding that he could not think of another property along Brunswick Pike that has a fence similar to the one proposed.
Attorney Daniel Haggerty, who represented the applicant, said a fence could be built along a part of the property line. A 4-foot-wide hedgerow could be planted along the rest of the property line, out to Brunswick Pike, he said. A hedgerow would be a "practical and effective" deterrent, he added.
With virtually no comment, the Planning Board voted unanimously to grant preliminary and final site plan approval for the application.
The company hopes to start construction in late-June/early-July and have the location open for business at the end of August or early-September, Mr. Schreiber said Tuesday.

