New Mickey Mart/Dunkin' Donuts gets initial OK from zoning board

Joe Centers, Norwalk Reflector, Ohio
·2 min read

Jul. 22—NORWALK — Plans are in the works for a new Mickey Mart/Dunkin' Donuts on the south side of Norwalk on the former property of the Kaiser-Wells Pharmacy.

The Board of Zoning Appeals voted 3-1 Wednesday night with one abstention to give the OK to submit plans for the building.

"They had to get conditional use to do the drive-thru and gas station in that zone," said Mitch Loughton, zoning administrator for the city of Norwalk.

"They haven't submitted plans yet. This gives them permission to put a gas station on that property," he added. "Once we get their plans, we will check it out."

The no vote came from Josh Welfle, who said he was concerned with all of the semi-truck traffic that would be coming in and out of the property.

The diesel pumps will be located in the back of the building, and all of the trucks would exit onto Executive Drive.

"I think everyone I talked to is in favor of the project," Welfle said. "But their site plan shows semi truck diesel pumps on the back of the lot ... there isn't a good way to get trucks on the site or off the site.

"They would turn on from Benedict, whether coming from north or south, and exit onto Executive Drive like McDonald's does. But Executive can't handle semis — that light takes forever to change and only stays on (green) for 15 seconds."

Welfle also said the radius that is needed in the entrances and exits are not ideal.

"I'm going to talk to the mayor (Dave Light), as they can't move forward with trucks like that without at least getting a traffic study done," he said. "It's not a requirement to do one, technically, but it would be crazy for them not to require it to make sure our roads can handle the extra traffic."

Loughton said when the full plans are submitted by the company, the zoning commission will discuss options with the Norwalk Police Department.

"We'll see what they think about the traffic," Loughton said. "We will talk to Aaron Osborn, our public works coordinator, about the turn radius. We will look over all of that.

"What the board saw (Tuesday) night may not be the final layout."