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Zoning board approves Caribou Coffee plan on Route 110 with multiple variance conditions
Summary
The Town of Babylon Zoning Board of Appeals approved a plan to build an 1,800 sq ft Caribou Coffee with a drive‑thru on Route 110, granting several setbacks, parking and signage variances and adopting a negative declaration for the related lot‑merge application; conditions include merged lots and zoning approval required for future sign alterations.
The Town of Babylon Zoning Board of Appeals on a March meeting approved variances to allow construction of an 1,800‑square‑foot Caribou Coffee with a drive‑thru on Route 110 (Broad Hollow Road) and granted related sign and parking relief.
Attorney Allison La Point, representing the applicant, told the board the project would demolish existing blighted structures and build the restaurant on two lots that the applicant agreed to merge. “We are proposing … the first Caribou Coffee to be founded here in the northeast,” La Point said, describing the building, internal seating and a drive‑thru lane.
The applicant requested multiple variances: a canopy front setback of 3.5 feet where 25 feet is required (the building face itself is set back 7 feet from the property line), a rear yard of roughly 43.7 feet where 50 feet is required, reduced parking (15 stalls proposed where the code calls for 21), two wall signs per elevation, and six ground signs including directional/menu boards and a pylon sign sited three feet from the property line where 10 feet is required. The team submitted a traffic and parking study they said supports the reduced parking and explained most peak demand is expected to be served by the drive‑thru.
Board members questioned sightlines for the drive‑thru and whether signs or canopies would obstruct visibility on the adjacent roadway; La Point replied the pylon sign is on posts and that the design keeps the building and drive‑thru clear of the road sight‑lines. The applicant also agreed that any replacement, resurfacing or alteration of the approved signs would require return to the Zoning Board of Appeals for approval.
The board adopted a negative declaration for application 26‑5 (the lot/operation application) and voted to approve application 26‑5 with conditions including merging the lots and allowing the board to set or limit hours of operation. The board then approved application 2620 (the site variance package) with the condition that any future sign alterations require ZBA approval.
The approvals are conditional; the board noted coordination with the planning department and customary covenants on new construction. The board recorded no specific vote tallies in the public record for these motions; the decisions will be followed by written notices mailed to applicants.
What happens next: the applicant must complete required department permits and any planning board or building‑department conditions; the board retained the right to restrict hours of operation if later warranted.
