Tim Horton's is moving forward with plans for a new location in Batavia, on Lewiston Road, near West Main Street Road, and the company cleared another regulatory hurdle Monday night.
The Town of Batavia Zoning Board approved a setback variance for the restaurant building, allowing the structure to be located about 15 feet from the property line.
The current, vacant, building is 10 feet from the property line and the local zoning law requires a 30-foot setback, unless a variance is granted.
The zoning board approved the variance unanimously.
The board also completed a short-form environmental review and found that the one issue to be resolved is what traffic impact a Tim Horton's will have on the already busy intersection of Lewiston and West Main.
A couple of area residents spoke out against the proposed location saying additional traffic will make an already bad intersection all that much more dangerous.
A Department of Transportation traffic study for the proposed site has already been ordered and the town's planning board will take up that issue and any other issues at a public hearing Dec. 5.
Bob Bender, real estate project planner for Tim Horton's, said he doesn't know what the traffic study will show and didn't speculate about any findings.
There would be two ingress and egress points to the proposed location, one off of Lewiston Road and the other off West Main Street. The blueprint shows the West Main driveway in the same location as this tree.
The building will be 1,953 square feet.
A franchise owner for the location will not be announced until the project is approved, Bender said.
If the project is approved, construction would start in March or April.
The DOT traffic study should
The DOT traffic study should prove interesting. Traffic is bad on that section of Rt 63 now. Just think what it will be when Tim Horton's is there. My feeling is it will be worse than the backups on Main St.
Here's my worry ... right
Here's my worry ... right now, traffic making a left into McDonald's jams up the passing lane. It's easy to be a little surprised by a car stopping in front of you there, since there's no turning lane. Now you're going to add a lot of cars in the right hand lane at that very spot. The potential for congestion seems significant.
Why don't they put it out
Why don't they put it out near the thruway? Why do we need 2 of everything?
Alright ENOUGH ALREADY! I
Alright ENOUGH ALREADY! I say, make them promise to leave the tree. That tree is beyond beautiful, and there is plenty of other places to buy coffee. If you have the money to buy your coffee at Tim Hortons, you have the money to drive a mile to the one near wendys. I dont know why, but this gets me really mad. "Pave Paradise to put up a parking lot" We have Human Rights, Animal Rights, when does nature get some rights?
Its time to make a choice people, Would you rather live in a town where you can buy coffee every 1/2 mile? Or a town where there is Beautiful, old growth trees lining many many many of the streets?
Kathy - We are saving the
Kathy - We are saving the space out by the Thruway for more hotels. It's a shame that people visiting Batavia have no place to stay. :D
The environmental review
The environmental review details only one issue to be resolved - traffic impact on the Lewiston & Main intersection? Really? Is this Timmy's going to have a drive-thru generating more emissions and noise in an already drive-thru heavy portion of the city? To Christopher's point we're going to lose an established tree and increase pavement with no added greenery? There should be a requirement to add border trees for any added development in the area. We should have a spare traffic light in stock as lights have recently been removed from the Main-Redfield, North-Summit, and Bank-Washington intersections. If traffic looms to be a problem, add a light - Batavia's Main St. is famous for them!
I think the bigger concern is economic impact. As much as we need businesses to move in to create jobs, another Timmy's is likely just going to take away from current established businesses in the immediate vicinity - Timmy's downtown, Dunkin' Donuts, Denny's, McDonald's, etc... Tops is already selling Timmy's and so is Batavia Downs. How does our investment in GCEDC come in to play here for planning purposes? Do the master planners understand that the Batavia Downs approved expansion plan includes a full service Timmy's on the ground floor immediately inside the main entrance? Really, we need not only 2 but 3 full service Timmy's and a Dunkin' Donuts in Batavia??? Might be time to bet on coffee futures!
This move sounds like a zero sum gain for the community and reflects little in the way of strategic planning. How soon will one of the Timmy's close up due to insufficient profits? Do we need to wind up with another Lowe's on our hands?
We just dumped a bunch of cash into GCEDC's hands - they should be required to first get new tenants for the vacant Lowe's property. Then, if this little wedge is deemed a prime business location, get something in that will benefit the community and fill a need not just duplicate what we already have. How about we get some businesses in that actually make something instead of just trying to sell us more goods/services?
Im wish my other life
Im wish my other life responsibilities didnt prevent me from chaining myself to this tree. On a lighter note, Im taking a stand!!! A Tree Stand!
And screw an ordnance making them add greenery. So they can replace a 200 year old tree with some little scraggly saplings, and some ugly bushes and mulch and rocks!
Everyone please take a look at Howard's picture of the tree http://thebatavian.com/howard-owens/photos-tree-west-main-street-batavi…
and take a look at http://i49.tinypic.com/1ylpj.jpg
One of these things is not like the other....
I got bored here is the side by side. Howard if you hate that i copy pasted ur pic, take it down. http://i46.tinypic.com/w7btwh.jpg
Notice the nearby cars in both pictures for perspective.
I don't mind, Christopher.
I don't mind, Christopher.
I agree Christopher, save the
I agree Christopher, save the tree! I appreciate your stand - wear your hunter orange out there!
Robert, Tim Horton's at the
Robert,
Tim Horton's at the site will have nothing to do with the one in the track, or take business from the track, just as the Tim's in the track will take business away from anyone. Different crowds and customers.
GCEDC is not involved in every business starting up and I don't think they have anything to do with this proposal.
That said, I don't care if they build Tim's there or not. I am not likely to go there.
I'm sure the customer
I'm sure the customer demographics overlap - they are not entirely disjoint sets and certainly the proposed site will draw some subset of customers away from the downtown strip. It's rather silly to have 3 full service Tim Horton's in little ole Batavia plus at least one more site that sells their product exclusively all within the same square mile. Maybe we're trying to set the world record for per capita Timmy's! Heck, we briefly held the Seven-Eleven record with great joy and pride. Free enterprise is great, but be careful what you wish for - this is not a value add to the community in terms of jobs/business. What we need are businesses that produce goods and create new growth jobs. Again, where's the master plan - we do not want more vacant retail space either by businesses that build new and go belly up or businesses that force existing sites to close shop.