OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen Fencing was set up around the future drive-through at Starbucks in the Tops Plaza on Vineyard Drive in the Town of Dunkirk.

At the next regular meeting of the Dunkirk Town Board, 7 Brew Drive Thru Coffee will be presenting plans for a proposed location in the Dunkirk Multiplex Plaza.

If approved, 7 Brew would demolish the former Lightning Lube site and construct a new building.

7 Brew is a coffee shop franchise that began in Rogers, Arkansas in 2017. It has expanded to 256 locations across the nation. According to its official website, “7 Brew was born from a desire to change drive-thru coffee into a fun, mind-blowing experience for everyone.”

Other developments in the town are progressing as well. Site work is ready to begin at the new Starbucks location in the Tops Plaza off Vineyard Drive in the town of Dunkirk.

After a brief interruption, preparations to construct a drive-through lane and a build-out drive through window for Starbucks are set to begin next week.

Fencing was set up last week around the building and near the entrance to the plaza off Vineyard Drive, but work was halted after a few days because notice was not provided to the Town of Dunkirk. The location of the fencing provided issues for cars entering and exiting the plaza off Vineyard Drive prior to the traffic light.

“I felt there was imminent danger to the public, so I shut them down until they could put some provisions in place to make better egress for the public,” said Ryan Mourer, Town of Dunkirk Zoning and Code Enforcement Officer.

Mourer called the issue a “miscommunication.” There was not a pre-construction meeting to address the concerns before Benderson set up the fencing to begin site work. Starbucks informed the Town it would begin construction in January, but initial site work for the drive-through lane and the exterior of the building is being handled by Benderson Development, the landlord of the site. It was Benderson who did not notify the Town of its intent to fence the area and begin site work.

After a construction meeting took place on Tuesday, the project can now proceed next week once proper egress is established for the plaza. Curbing, sidewalks and exterior facade work will continue in the coming months.

Starbucks targets mid-March as an opening date for the drive-through coffee shop. Benderson’s construction around the site still hit the initial timeline of construction beginning by Labor Day, but Starbucks itself will not be addressing the interior of the shop until January.

The Starbucks project was approved by the Town Board a full year ago, with conditions suggested by the Planning Board after offering its conditional approval last June. Among the conditions the Town Board set forth attached to its approval of the Starbucks site plan were the installation of speed limit signs, turn signs, and other appropriate signage, lane markers to direct traffic, and a speed bump to deter drivers from operating vehicles at high speeds in the area.

The site for the new Starbucks is at the end of a strip of businesses near the Vineyard Drive entrance to the plaza, including Little Caesar’s and T-Mobile, which recently took over the space previously occupied by GameStop. The eventual Starbucks location is still currently occupied by AT&T, which is seeking to move to another location in the plaza. The former GNC location is one potential site being evaluated for its move. If AT&T does relocate in the same plaza, with the addition of T-Mobile, the plaza will now host four separate telephone providers: AT&T, T-Mobile, Spectrum, and Verizon.

Once Starbucks begins construction on the interior of its new location, another project in the Town of Dunkirk should be open to the public.

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen expects to be in business by the end of 2024. Popeyes has begun underground construction and utilities have been set up. The foundation has been set, which carries an approximate timeline of 90 days for construction to conclude.

The plans for a new Popeyes restaurant were officially approved by the Dunkirk Town Board in May of 2023. At a public hearing preceding the project’s approval, Brett Steenburgh, an engineer working on behalf of Liberty Restaurants, stated the applicant’s desire was to open the location within the 2023 year or in the first quarter of 2024.

However, the project saw little movement in the ensuing months, but that has changed in a hurry.

The Popeyes project was modeled after a similar location in Rochester. No setback issues or gross size issues needed to be addressed by the planning board.

The project addressed congestion of traffic in the area by eliminating direct access to Bennett Road. In its design, stacking of up to 20 vehicles was accounted for in order to discourage pedestrian traffic crossing through drive-through traffic. The applicant also addressed concerns with storm water drainage and accepted responsibility for any contaminated soil removed from the site.

By the time Popeyes is open, it could have a new neighbor preparing to join the Dunkirk Multiplex Plaza on Bennett Road.