| Issue #33, November 10, 2006 |
I’d Like A Triple, Grande, No Whip...
Starbucks Has Its Eye On A North Fork Location
By TJ Clemente
So what will they think of next? The talk going around Southold residents these days is not what the new congress is going to do about things but whether or not a Starbucks Coffee shop is coming to town and if so where? And by the way is it legal to do so? People often joke and say, “What’s the difference between a Starbucks coffee and one from the diner?” with the answer being, “About a dollar fifty.” Of course there are some who like to stop at a coffee shop and relax and take in the ambiance of the coffee house.
Will Starbucks be in Feather Hill or Mattituck Plaza? No seems to be the big word. Forms have been filed with town officials to prevent a Starbucks from being there. But Starbucks has its eyes on Mattituck, as McDonalds did years ago. The Big Box store law that basically prohibits large retail stores from entering into town have loopholes. It’s one heck of a McDonalds in Mattituck. It’s like a five-star restaurant on the outside.
For people who love to revisit the Town code there is also legislation that regulates “formula food” restaurants. For those unfamiliar with the jargon in the code, a formula food business or restaurant business, is one “required by contractual or other arrangements to offer standardized menus, ingredients, food preparation, décor, external façade or uniforms.”
No one has to stay up all night to figure out what types of businesses that statute was aimed at.
Also in the case of formula restaurants, Southold restricts the kind of façade, parking lot, signs, and the sign allowed cannot be lit from within the business. After all that, these businesses are only allowed in the Hamlet Business zone by special permit. Both locations mentioned for Starbucks are in such zones, grumble grumble. These statutes were put on the books in Southold in 1994 to deal with a Burger King that wanted to locate in the town, I guess some one didn’t like the Jr. Whopper.
There is also talk among townsters that it is just a matter of time. Where will it be? When will it come here and who will pay that kind of money for coffee? It has been confirmed that Starbucks is looking for new locations on the North fork and that Southold is one of them. It seems Catapano Engineering a consulting firm out of Mattituck is leading the search. An employee has been reportedly quoted saying, “They (Starbucks) are looking long at several locations throughout long Island…Southold is one of them.”
Where there is smoke there is fire. If Starbucks comes in what might be next? When was the last time you had an Arthur Treachers Fish n’ Chips in your sites? Or a Big Boy? Heck, why not go wild and set up a Stuckeys, Georgia style! When was the last time you even saw a Waffle House? And in my humble opinion there is not enough Taco Bell fast food restaurants in the world. Imagine Taco’s and Castelo di Borghese Meritage on the North Fork? Wouldn’t that be just great?
Of course it wouldn’t, but Starbucks guys are smart. They spiff up the store so it looks more home town and they pay a lot to get in. They even made it to East Hampton. Does the North Fork even have a chance? We shall see.
So with change comes more change and that brings us to new laws to stop change to protect the past. Towns want to remain what they were when town officials were growing up. It is good to keep things in good taste but let’s not rule out things that taste good, right? Right? Well maybe not.
When I proposed this question to a Southold resident at least 80 years old all she said was, “You must not be from around here.” How could she tell?
Save up your money, your going to get addicted and you are going to need the extra cash to be able to buy a grande five dollar double shot cappuccino…with no foam.
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