There's a new Dunkin' in town
Published on October 11th, 2006
STONEHAM, MA - Despite the fact that Stoneham already has four Dunkin' Donuts within the 6.1 square mile radius that is the Town of Stoneham, the Board of Selectmen entertained and ultimately approved another site plan for a coffee/doughnut eatery along the Lynn Fells Parkway - this one to be combined with an existing gas station.
Selectman Tony Kennedy seemed to be angling toward suggesting to the property owner that the site be either a Dunkin' Donuts or a gas station - and not both which would presumably cause traffic issues in an already congested area - but Kennedy was the only voice of dissent in a 4-1 vote by the Board of Selectmen.
Local attorney Charles Houghton outlined the plan for the donut shop at 2 Lynn Fells Parkway to demolish the current gas station at the site and construct a 1600 square foot Dunkin' Donuts, complete with a drive-thru that enters from the parkway, wraps around the building and then exits back out onto the roadway.
According to the plan, the existing gas station pumps and canopy will remain as part of the planned site and will still exist as a gas station - the actual convenience store that houses the gas station will be demolished with the two gas pumps and kiosk still remaining.
"It's been a gas station for quite some time and the site contains 19 parking spaces with 12 proposed seats in the site, which by law required only four parking spots," said Houghton, who also proposed a four foot wide, eight foot high berm with planted evergreen trees to separate the gas station/restaurant from the nearby condo development. "If you've seen the site before it's not very pleasing to the eye, and we're going to do some things to landscape it and spruce it up. To begin with, the site is on septic and we're proposing to install a sewer that will connect with the sewer line on West Wyoming Ave - we have to do some sidewalk work, so we might as well go ahead and install the sewer line."
In addition to the onsite improvements, Houghton also proposed using some of their own land to install a center lane on the Lynn Fells Parkway for motorists traveling south, allowing the vehicles to enter a center lane and take a left into the Dunkin' Donuts as well as to take a right on Pond Street and presumably easing traffic in the area.
"Traffic backs up from the intersection of Pond Street and West Wyoming right now, and we think this center lane might be able to help things quite a bit," said Houghton, who added that the client would have to get approval from DCR prior to actually changing the roadway.
Houghton also added that DCR has jurisdiction over the Town of Stoneham concerning wetland requirements, utility alterations and curb cut changes, and also felt that "they'd have to deal with" an encroachment on the northeasterly portion of the property by the abutting gazebo and Jerry Jingle Park. Stoneham Police required a 5-mph speed limit for the drive-thru and several painted one-way arrows to direct motorists toward the one-way wraparound drive-thru - a feature that required a special permit by the Planning Board. The site is within 100 feet of Fells wetlands on the other side of the Fells Parkway, and the site would also require Conservation Commission approval.
"There are several major concerns regarding this project and we recommend that the applicant file a site plan with the commission," said Conservation Commission Chairman Robert Conway
Nick Haven, of Howard, Stein and Hudson, outlined the traffic changes and stated that their traffic study would change the intersection from a current grading of an F to a C - theoretically making it an improved site for traffic.
Several of the Selectmen voiced their concerns that allowing both sides of Lynn Fells Parkway to enter and exit the property would cause a traffic conflict during times of heavy congestion and coffee consumption, and feared that it could become a problem area.
"My concern is looking at this that it will turn into a Dunkin' Donuts like the one in Cummings Park on Washington Street," said Bob Sweeney. "It's quite a horror show over there and I could see that happening with this one. One thing about Dunkin' Donuts, though, is if it's backed up at a certain site then you'll just drive over to the next one."
The residents hired Dr. Stephen Kaiser, a resource with a long and distinguished background as a traffic analyst and engineer, as a consultant, and the resident's advocate felt there were myriad problems with the proposed plan.
"Even after the traffic improvements, traffic will be able to enter the site but will have a hard time exiting the site in times of heavy traffic congestion," said Kaiser in his report. "I'm estimating that the approximate 100 estimated cars queued during times of heavy congestion and current rush hour could grow to as many as 800-1200 cars in a given hour of heavy traffic congestion."
The report also critiqued the methods utilized in the developer's traffic report, opined that the traffic model followed only several minutes of traffic in the area rather than a full hour, and reasoned that the multiple use of drive-thru, restaurant parking, and gas station would further cause traffic issues and congestion problems within the site.
"My concern is a quality of life issue," said Newcomb Road Andrew Celentano. "If you find yourself behind 12 or 13 cars rather than two or three cars, it's really a quality of life issue and you're really compromising the people that live in these neighborhoods."
Abutter Miriam Regan-Fiore also voiced objections with the placement of the site and felt that "the intersection is way over capacity now
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