Hearing on proposed 7 Brew drive‑through continued after council raises left‑turn safety questions

The Hampton Township Council reopened the public hearing on application 26‑01 from Cooper PA 3 LLC for a drive‑through coffee shop at 4778 William Flynn Highway and heard a technical presentation on traffic, queuing and site access before voting to continue the hearing until Aug. 12.

Michael Lasitis, representing the applicant, described a proposed 535‑square‑foot building with an accessory cooler, 12 parking spaces (including one handicap spot), two primary drive‑through lanes and a bypass lane. He said the use is listed as a conditional use in the township zoning ordinance and argued the plan conforms to ordinance criteria and the comprehensive plan.

"We have provided the legally required sight distance and we believe the access is considerably safer than the existing gravel area," Lasitis said, citing a PennDOT scoping meeting and ongoing PennDOT highway occupancy permit work.

Jason Shetler of Trapper Planning and Design detailed a site‑specific traffic and queuing analysis based on transaction data from three comparable Western Pennsylvania locations. Shetler said the maximum observed queue at comparable stores was 31 vehicles for two minutes across thousands of minutes of video and that the proposed design provides 28 primary queueing spaces plus an additional 13 overflow spaces in the bypass lane.

"Using our observations and the supplemental sensitivity analysis, 99.78% of the time queues were less than 28 vehicles," Shetler said. He added the company plans to use certified traffic controllers during initial openings.

Township traffic engineer Zach Steele cautioned that modeling results vary by methodology. "The HCM analysis projected a deficient level of service for the left‑turn movement with delays on the order of three minutes, while the SIM simulations approached acceptable service levels," Steele said. He flagged a possible volume‑count error in the applicant’s submission and recommended redesigning the egress or restricting it to right‑out only to protect corridor safety.

Residents at the public comment period offered mixed views. John Parish said he typically turns right and did not anticipate left‑turns to be a frequent problem. Alyssa Loria, a recent graduate, said the proposed maneuver felt safer than nearby turns she faces at a local Starbucks. Diane Stickson supported the new business for local jobs and tax base while urging careful safety scrutiny.

After discussion about enforcement (police would enforce any time‑restricted left‑turn condition) and additional engineering reviews, a motion to continue the public hearing to Aug. 12 passed on a roll call vote with all members voting in favor.

The council recorded the continuance to allow planning staff and the township traffic engineer time to review the applicant’s revised queuing assessment and to let the planning commission make a formal recommendation before final council action.