Elyria grapples with future use of Broad Street as Dunkin' Donuts plans new location

ELYRIA — Elyria's Planning Commission members and mayor pondered the potential development of East Broad Street as Dunkin' looks to move in and Speedway looks to build a new facility. At Tuesday's virtual meeting, both Speedway and Dunkin' representatives requested to rezone property into a business district in an area that has traditionally been of residential or office use. Dunkin' is looking to build a new location at 905 E. Broad St., where the old Elyria Medical Group building sits next to Longson Avenue. Speedway, which is across the street from Dunkin's potential shop, is also looking to build a new gas station and store at 565 Abbe Road. Both rezoning requests, which were approved Tuesday by Planning Commission members, are just the first steps in the process of building. Dunkin' needs a lot consolidation before it submits design plans for approval, and Speedway also will have to submit design plans for various city departments to review. Redoing Broad Street is a project slated to be worked on next year and the year after that, but Mayor Frank Whitfield said he's had conversations with the Engineer's Office to move the project up because he said he's concerned about the traffic. "I perceive it as an expansion of the business district from Jimmy John's, we're expanding that into more of the residential," Whitfield said. "I think that's one of the pieces we need to discuss. I think one caveat is around the traffic. We already know that that corner is a very busy corner. ... With all this potential development, Broad Street needs to be a higher priority for us to redesign and redevelop that road." Jimmy John's, McDonald's, Marco's Pizza and Wolfey's all sit in that region of East Broad Street, but further out from those locations is mostly residential. The rezoning for a new Dunkin' could open the door to development to push even farther down the road, member Sam Battle said. A resident on Longson Avenue, Gayle McGee, said that as the current design for the new Dunkin' location stands, she would be looking at the drive-thru from her living room window. McGee said she was concerned that her property values would decrease, Longson Avenue would continue to deteriorate and more people would litter around her house. "We live on a dead-end street," McGee said. "They're notorious for ruckuses. ... I just can't even imagine the traffic. I just can't." There were more concerns voiced about traffic around the area. Planning Commission member Chad Schneider said he spoke with Judy Keys, D-1st Ward, who said a resident she spoke to also was worried about increased traffic and the condition of Longson Avenue. "I do see, being around Northeast Ohio, I have seen Dunkin' Donuts in places like Fairview Park where they're in an area where it's walkable from the neighborhoods, like in Lakewood," Chad Schneider said. "You see this often in cities, so I don't think it's out of line for it's initial use of coffee and doughnuts. This does open up the future for what happens after Dunkin'. That's one of our issues at hand." City Engineer John Schneider said Longson Avenue, which is a dead-end road, was created to be residential and not for truck traffic. The road does not have curbs or full storm sewers. It's just an asphalt road about 20 to 21 feet wide, he said. "A new Dunkin' Donuts would probably create more traffic in the area," John Schneider said. "It's definitely something we would want to look at as part of this. ... I do have some concerns on how the traffic would move as it sits today, but those are things we can work on." Paul Rubenstein, who represents Danop Ltd., said his company has 10 Dunkin' locations and 13 Taco Bell locations and that quick service restaurants usually operate with existing traffic instead of drawing new traffic. He said the company identified the Broad Street location because it's close to residents and because of the current traffic flow. "We're convenience driven," he said. "... Typically people see the sign and say 'OK, I'm going to jump in.' " Longson Avenue would not be used for truck deliveries, Rubenstein said. The location also would have two drive-thru lanes, one of which would be dedicated for mobile ordering and the other would be a regular drive-thru. The rezoning for the new Speedway rebuild — at the former location of the First Merit/Huntington bank adjacent to the current Speedway that is there — and for a new Dunkin' Donuts were approved by the present Planning Commission members. Future issues, like traffic and building designs, will come back up through Planning Commission when both Speedway and Dunkin' submit plans for approval. "That's something we need to do as a city," Whitfield said. "We need to really look at what is the master plan, so we don't piecemeal these things. I think this is an expansion of the existing business district we have. ... That also means it's further encroaching on residential, so I think that's something we need to look at as a city. What's the grand scheme of this area and Broad Street in general? I think that's to be determined." Contact Laina Yost at (440) 329-7121 or lyost@chroniclet.com.