No slam dunk for donuts in Concord, not yet

Posted by Rich Schwartzman on February 26, 2014

Dunking donuts in Concord Township could become a bit more convenient, but that depends on the supervisors there.

The board held a conditional use hearing Feb. 25 for a proposed Dunkin’ Donuts in the Concord Village Shopping Center at Route 1 and Cheney Road. The shop would go into the location vacated by the Concord Village Pharmacy.

Proposed with the store is a drive-thru window.

The restaurant and drive-thru are permitted in the C-2 Zoning District, but only with conditional use approval.

Engineer Matt Houtmann made the presentation on behalf of proprietor Diptesh Patel, who runs other Dunkin’ Donut shops in Aston and Upper Chichester.

There is no planned grilling, frying or baking on the premises. All items will arrive precooked from a corporate facility, then kept frozen until the store runs them through a warming oven or microwave.

With the addition of the proposed drive-thru, several parking spaces will be lost, but the total number will still be more than the minimum required for the shopping center.

Of concern to supervisors — as expressed by John Gillespie and Kevin O’Donaghue — is pedestrian safety related to the drive-thru area. The center is home to other retail establishments as well as district court. There is a great deal of foot traffic, especially on Thursday mornings when court is in session. Because of the layout of the center and the location of the court and the proposed doughnut shop, people could be walking to and from the court along the side of the building where the drive-thru aisle is located.

Planned operating hours are 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days per week, with peak hours being 6-9 a.m.

The applicant may also need to apply for a sign variance for a menu board beside the drive-thru aisle.

No date was set for the board to announce its decision on the conditional use hearing.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.