Wendy's Decision Pushed Back Until January

The Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment held a hearing to discuss the proposed Wendy's at the corner of Roxborough and Ridge Avenues on Wednesday.

The hearing lasted three hours, so I will do my best to condense that much acronym heavy (CMX-2?) information into something people will find useful.

Nothing starts on time: The hearing didn't begin at noon as was scheduled.  However, that did give people enough time to arrive.  The hearing room was packed, and there were even people spilling out into the hallway.

Why is all this necessary: The lot located at 5901 Ridge Ave. is zoned CMX-2.  Under the zoning code, CMX-2 is described as small scale neighborhood and residential mixed use.  It also allows for restaurants.  However, it doesn't allow for take out.  "Take out" includes drive thrus.  The kind of drive thrus that would be attached to a Wendy's.  Therefore the developer needs a special exception from the city in order to operate a restaurant with a drive thru.  If the Wendy's didn't require a drive thru, it would've been built by now.

All right Wendy's, make your case: At Wednesday's hearing there was only enough time to hear testimony from the developers represented by Carl Primavera.  Primavera argued that drive thrus exist up and down Ridge Avenue, including an ice cream parlor, Rita's, several banks and the Dunkin' Donuts at Ivy Ridge.  He also said that another drive thru would fit in with the commercial corridor that already exists on Ridge Avenue.

Proximity: Primavera also said that residential areas bump up against commercial areas throughout the Ridge Avenue corridor, and that this creates a walkable neighborhood.  He added that he believed the Wendy's would also provide a "walkable benefit."

Access to the site: Cars would be able to enter the property from both Ridge and Roxborough Avenues.  There would be one entrance and one exit on both streets.  The drive thru has room for at least five cars to wait in line, and the building will have 38 parking spots.

That leads us to traffic: Traffic engineer Frank Montgomery testified that there would be little to no impact on existing traffic patterns with the inclusion of a Wendy’s at this location.  He said that at peak hours there would be 22 cars entering the property on weekdays and 39 cars on weekends.  He also said that 50 percent of those cars would already be on the road. 

We’re at 400 words already: I know this all sounds one sided.  I will once again reiterate that only one side presented on Wednesday.  All of the witnesses on Wednesday gave expert testimony, but they were paid by the developers to provide the information that was the basis of their testimony. 

The whole thing in a nutshell: This is a quote from Zoning Board member Greg Pastore: “I need to hear that a take out with a drive thru is not more burdensome than a take out without a drive thru.”  Primavera is trying to prove for his client that the Wendy’s drive thru is not a bigger drag on the community than any other use that could be constructed at this location.  This is the crux of the whole issue.

Quote of the whole hearing:

Zoning Chair Julia Chapman: “I think a family sit down restaurant would be most desirable at this location.”

Carl Primavera: “And I would like to look like Brad Pitt.”

So what’s this about the decision being delayed: The zoning board ran out of time to hear any more testimony.  So, the hearing has been continued.  That means there will be another hearing on Jan. 8 at noon where the Wendy’s development team will finish it’s testimony, and the other side will be given its chance to speak.

All right, wrap it up: Fine, here’s some bullet points:

• They can build a restaurant at 5901 Ridge Ave. by right.
• They need a special exception to build a restaurant with a drive thru.
• In order to build a restaurant with a drive thru, the developers must prove that a restaurant with a drive thru will not create a burden on the community.
• The developers say that there will be a minimal affect on traffic, noise, pollution, etc.
• Experts provided testimony to back up these assertions.
• These experts were paid by the developers to do the research to make these assertions.
• It was also argued that multiple drive thrus already exist on Ridge Avenue.
• The other side did not provide testimony because they ran out of time.
• They will be given time at the next hearing on Jan. 8 at noon.
• The chair of the zoning board conducted an unofficial poll where she asked those in attendance to raise their hands if they were there in support of or in opposition to the Wendy’s.
• The opposition won by a significant margin.