Planning board approves 1,815 sq. ft. coffee shop at 1895 South Willow after debate over crosswalk and left-turn access

The Manchester Planning & Zoning Board on Wednesday approved a planned development and site plan for a 1,815-square-foot coffee shop with limited indoor seating, 22 new parking spaces and a drive-through on a lease lot at 1895 South Willow Street.

Board members voted 5–4 to approve PDSP2025-002 after debating pedestrian safety at a proposed crosswalk and a staff recommendation to prohibit left turns from the site onto South Willow.

The project, submitted by TF Moran Inc. for GREP Manchester LLC, includes a standalone coffee shop next to a recently approved Service Credit Union branch. Applicant representatives told the board they had made several changes since the application’s prior hearing, including removing a painted "do not block" marking, adding a vestibule and enhanced façade treatments, changing a painted crosswalk to stamped asphalt, installing a bike rack, and converting curbing to vertical or sloped granite. The applicant also said it has filed draft easement paperwork related to an existing sewer connection shared with the credit union.

Why it matters: the board’s decision allows a drive-through use in a B-2 (general business) district while affirming the board’s interest in pedestrian connectivity and traffic safety. Staff, including the city traffic engineer, voiced concern that the proposed crosswalk would put pedestrians in conflict with heavy drive-through and parking-lot traffic; the board ultimately opted to keep the…