Opponents of Dunkin’ Donuts to testify

The hearing will continue at the New Hope Borough Council meeting Sept. 19.

By: Linda Seida
   NEW HOPE — The conditional use hearing for a proposal to open a Dunkin’ Donuts in the center of the main tourist drag and historic area will continue Sept. 19.
   The hearing will be conducted during the Borough Council’s regular meeting at 7:30 at 180 W. Bridge St.
   Next month, when the hearing resumes, it is expected neighbors of the proposed shop who could be affected most by the establishment will have the opportunity to present their objections. These include a long-established ice cream shop, a jeweler and a store that sells art deco items and items from the 1950s.
   The applicants, Joe and Joni Glassman, have proposed a Dunkin’ Donuts and a Baskin-Robbins at the corner of Bridge and Main streets. The 517-square-foot site housed Sterling’s Boutique until 2002.
   The combination doughnut, coffee and ice cream shop would sit across the street from the base of the New Hope-Lambertville bridge and directly across Main Street from another coffee house, Starbucks.
   Four neighboring businessmen who oppose the new donut shop will present their own witnesses when the hearing resumes, according to Herb Millman of Cockamamie’s.
   They are Mr. Millman, Bob Gerenser of Gerenser’s Exotic Ice Cream, Joe Balderston of jeweler Diana Michael’s and Steve Coppens, who owns residential and commercial property.
   Mr. Gerenser said Monday he could not comment because it is a quasi-legal proceeding and commenting before the group has a chance to present its side could jeopardize the outcome.
   Mr. Millman said he will present four witnesses, although he declined to name them.
   The location of the proposed Dunkin’ Donuts is "the gateway to New Hope," Mr. Millman said.
   He added, "What makes New Hope special is the individually owned shops." But Dunkin’ Donuts, "You can see that anywhere," he said. "It’s bad enough we have Starbucks."
   Mr. Millman worries the small eight-space parking lot attached to his shop, which he pays for as part of his lease, will be used by Dunkin’ Donuts customers. As it is now, he’s chasing off Starbucks customers and others. It’s gotten so bad that on weekends he can’t even park in his own lot, he said.
   "What’s going to happen when they’re right next door?" he asked.
   Even the ledge on the outside of his shop is taken up by coffee drinkers lounging there, Mr. Millman said.
   He also worries about the shop’s plan for trash. It will be stored in a room until disposed of, and the room will have a drain so the area can be hosed down.
   Mr. Millman said he has never seen a mouse or rat in the vicinity in the more than five years he’s been at his current location or the 11 years he’s been on the block.
   "I can assure you that when trash is being stored in that building, there is going to be a rodent problem," he said.
   The applicants have had the opportunity to present witnesses throughout the hours of testimony given in a conditional use hearing before the council so far since April. Testimony has been given each month except May. Their attorney, Martin King of Cordes and King in Newtown, is representing them before the council.
   Last week, the council heard testimony from Ms. Glassman, who said the coffee shop’s busiest time of day is expected to fall between the hours of 5 and 9 a.m. A Dunkin’ Donuts executive who oversees Pennsylvania, excluding Philadelphia, also testified concerning the company’s standards.
   Shops such as the Dunkin’ Donuts are permitted under the borough’s zoning regulations, but they require the council’s approval as a conditional use.
   According to the company, the first Dunkin’ Donuts opened in 1950 in Quincy, Mass. The company licensed its first franchise in 1955.
   The Glassmans operate two Dunkin’ Donuts franchises, one in Lower Makefield and the other in Richboro, Pa.