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Keene ZBA grants two‑year extension for pickup‑only drive‑through at 147 Main Street, 4–1
Summary
The Keene Zoning Board of Adjustment approved an extension of a 2023 special exception to allow a pickup‑only drive‑through at 147 Main Street, with the condition that no exterior order board be used. The motion passed 4–1; one member raised neighborhood traffic concerns for Davis Street.
The Keene Zoning Board of Adjustment voted to extend a special exception that allows a pickup‑only drive‑through at 147 Main Street, approving the request 4–1 on a motion Tuesday night.
The application, filed for petitioner Michael Pappas and represented by attorney Eli Lano of Bernstein Shure, asked the board to extend a special exception originally granted on Aug. 7, 2023, under the city’s Land Development Code. The applicant said the extension is needed because of construction‑market conditions and the time required to secure a commercial tenant and complete design and site work.
"We're not trying to put up a steel industrial box," attorney Eli Lano told the board, describing plans for a three‑story brick mixed‑use building and stressing the drive‑through would be a pickup‑only window for preordered items, not an order board. Lano asked the board to apply the prior code’s approval criteria when considering the extension.
Planning staff described the site as a now‑vacant lot at the northwest corner of Main and Davis streets where a 1926 mixed‑use building stood until it was demolished after a fire. Staff noted the Land Development Code has been amended to prohibit drive‑throughs in the downtown core since the original approval and told the board it must determine whether the original findings and conditions still apply and whether "good cause" supports an extension.
Applicant filings and testimony provided operational estimates: up to 20 employees (maximum four per shift), roughly 200 customer sales per day and about 60 sales in the peak hour. The applicant said the site has 145 feet of queuing and is configured as right‑in/right‑out to limit traffic impacts on Main Street.
Board members reviewed the seven special‑exception criteria required by the LDC, including public health and safety, harmony with surrounding properties, impacts on public facilities and traffic. Several members said the planned use would be less intensive than the previous business on the site and that site‑plan review will address circulation and screening. One member raised concern about potential impacts on Davis Street and about whether nearby renters had been adequately notified of the application.
Edward Guyot moved to approve the extension "as shown in the application and supporting materials received on 07/17/2025, with the following condition that no exterior order board be present." Ted Shrantz seconded. The board voted the criteria individually (each passed) and approved the main motion 4–1, with Mr. LaRoy recorded as opposed.
The approval includes the condition that no exterior order board may be installed; staff advised the board that, under the LDC, an extension is generally effective for two years unless the board specifies a shorter period. The application will proceed to subsequent site‑plan and building reviews as required.
The board closed the public hearing after no members of the public spoke for or against the extension. The record includes staff materials and the applicant’s packet on file with planning staff.
Next procedural step: the project will be subject to planning and building reviews before construction can begin. The board did not set a shorter sunset date at the time of the vote.
