GAINESVILLE—The Gainesville City Council is moving forward with a proposed Dunkin' Donuts on Thompson Bridge Road in the old Yonah Burger building.
The council will hold a public hearing at their next voting meeting, Tuesday, November 3 at 5:30 p.m.
"As we're told by the applicant, they would like to do some minor renovations to the building. Pretty much everything else is (already) in place (to operate a drive-thru)," said Matt Tate, Gainesville Planning Manager, speaking at Thursday morning's council work session.
Tate said the only concerns he's received from nearby residents deal with traffic on Green Street Circle, but added that it likely won't be much of an issue since the drive-thru will dump cars back onto Thompson Bridge.
"There have been improvements that have been made when Yonah Burger was developed to improve that," said Tate.
One other concern, which Tate said is something the city doesn't normally regulate, had to do with the hours of operation.
The restaurant plans to stay open from 5:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.
"I think that's just standard hours of operation for Dunkin' Donuts," said Tate.
The drive-thru was first installed on Yonah Burger in 2010, something Tate said passed with "controversy." As a part of the conditions approved for the 0.37-acre tract of land at the time, any future business that occupied the space would have to resubmit a request for a special use permit to operate a drive-thru.
The Gainesville Planning and Appeals Board has already recommended approval for the restaurant to setup shop.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2015/10/346004/gainesville-city-council-to-hold-public-hearing-for-dunkin-donuts-on-thompson-bridge-rd