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Dunkin' Donuts Coming To Temple Terrace

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By JOYCE MCKENZIE of The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 14, 2007

TEMPLE TERRACE - Travelers trekking back and forth on East Fowler Avenue are going to have the opportunity to reinforce a company's catchphrase: "America Runs on Dunkin'."

The Temple Terrace City Council has approved the site plan for a 2,170-square-foot Dunkin' Donuts restaurant across Fowler Avenue from Greco Middle School. The eatery will be at the 1.38-acre Greenhill Plaza site, which abuts Greenhill Place to the east and Gillette Avenue to the west.

The land was annexed by the city in 2005, but the neighboring single-family homes north and northwest of the site remain under the county's jurisdiction.

Regardless, Temple Terrace Community Services Director Ralph Bosek said his staff and Soho Engineering, the firm representing developer Greenhill LLC, have met and adapted plans that address the surrounding homeowners' concerns.

"We've treated the county residents as if they were Temple Terrace residents," he said.

Ed Hanson, who lives at 6940 Greenhill Place, owns a home across the street from the proposed development. He objected to having the entrance to the Dunkin' Donuts parking lot almost directly across the street from his front yard. He also disliked the developer's original idea of having only a 3-foot buffering wall along Greenhill Place, fearing that the restaurant's brightly lighted drive-through menu board and vehicles' headlights would shine directly into his home's front picture window.

"I'd have vehicle headlights sweeping my front yard in the early morning hours and all evening long," he said.

As a result, engineers reconfigured the site plan and agreed to construct a 6-foot concrete buffering wall along the entire northern boundary to a right-turn-only exit onto Greenhill Place, leading vehicles toward Fowler Avenue. The restaurant's menu board and sound system will be directed toward Fowler Avenue.

"It's an attractive project that will be one of the nicer-looking buildings on Fowler Avenue," said Councilman Frank Chillura.

Soho representative Charlie Chen said construction is expected to begin in the spring and be completed by year's end.

There have been no lease agreements signed for the plaza's other spaces.

Reporter Joyce McKenzie can be reached at (813) 865-4849 or jmckenzie@tampatrib.com.

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