Aliyya Swaby Photo
Over objections from some neighbors, Quinnipiac Meadows neighbors are getting a Popeyes restaurant with a drive-thru to replace a gas station and abandoned lot on Foxon Boulevard.
The Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously approved Tuesday night the special exception to allow a drive-thru window at 320 Foxon Blvd. for the new outlet within 250 feet of a residential use, after a discussion on whether the fast-food restaurant would disrupt nearby residences.
The applicant’s lawyer Bernard Pellegrino said the restaurant will leave “adequate space for the queueing of cars in the drive-thru.” Traffic will flow one-way with a path each for the drive-thru lane, passing lane and parking area access.
Cars can leave the site at a signalized intersection on Quinnipiac Avenue, which will increase safety, he said.
Pellegrino argued zoning commissioners did not need to establish factors such as the level of noise pollution, hours of operation or traffic patterns, since that would be determined by City Plan during the site plan review after zoning approval.
But he promised to put a six-foot vinyl fence and barrier of trees up between the proposed restaurant and nearby residences to decrease noise and light pollution.
Sujit Ramchand, a lawyer for neighbors at 1267 Quinnipiac Ave. adjacent to the proposed Popeye’s, said the fence and trees will not be enough. He said the drive-thru will affect the families living in the building and requested that the proposal be tabled until the applicants performed a traffic study.
One neighbor spoke in favor of the project. Reginald Hayes, who lives at 1343 Quinnipiac Ave., said the Popeye’s could offer nearby loitering young people jobs instead of “having 10 or 15 young men hanging in the gas station.”
He said the residence near the site was already the “worst property on Quinnipiac Avenue.”
Commissioners decided to approve the request with the condition that its hours of operation span 10 a.m. to midnight.
Commissioner Ben Trachten said he did not need a traffic study to tell him that a Popeye’s would bring fewer cars than a gas station. “The current use on the site is more intense than what will be there,” he said. “The impact on traffic will be minute.”
Board Chair Pat King said she believes the cars traversing the drive-thru will have “sufficient space to not have traffic backing up there.”
Too bad the neighbors didn't raise the vehicle exhaust issue, since Connecticut regulations "prohibit vehicles of all kinds from unnecessary idling for more than 3 minutes"(RCSA 22a-174-18).
On a related note, I've often wondered why drive-in facilities are never shut down during poor air quality days.