Residents placed red dots on the names of restaurants they would not want to see open in town. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After a prolonged battle over a Dunkin’ donut shop, Fair Haven residents took an “arts and crafts” approach to starting a new dialogue about fast food Tuesday night.
Mayor Ben Lucarelli, right, with Council President Jon Peters at Monday’s council meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Steam continued to rise Monday night from last month’s controversial planning board decision to allow a Dunkin’ coffee shop to open in Fair Haven.
At issue at the council’s semimonthly meeting was a proposed ordinance that would all but ban fast-food restaurants, even as advocates acknowledged it was no more than a “stopgap” measure.
Borough attorney Sal Alfieri and planning consultant Fred Heyer at Monday’s council meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A missing-in-action law that banned fast food restaurants in Fair Haven is effectively revoked and will have to be rewritten, the borough’s attorney said Monday night.
In that case, the next one needs to address “ambiguities” that enabled a proposed — and controversial — Dunkin’ coffee shop to clear the first hurdle to possible approval, officials and residents said.
Former Councilwoman Bea Sena reads minutes from a 2002 council meeting at which she voiced concern that parts of the borough code had gone missing. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fast food joints in Fair Haven? Why, there oughta be a law, say some residents, angered by a pending proposal for a Dunkin’ coffee shop.
Well, it turns out there is — or was — a borough ordinance explicitly prohibiting fast food restaurants. But it seems to have vanished from the town’s official code book, a resident told the borough council Monday night.
What that means to the most controversial planning board application in recent history, as well as others expected to soon follow, immediately became a lightning rod issue.