County planners review proposals for Tim Horton's and Dunkin' Donuts in Le Roy

Developers want to bring both a Tim Horton's and a Dunkin' Donuts to Le Roy, and at locations that are so close to each other even E.J. Manuel could accurately toss a football from one drive-thru to the other and hit his intended target.

But that isn't what bothered Genesee County Planning Board members about the proposed Tim Horton's location.

They were concerned about traffic congestion caused by the restaurant drive-thru being so close to gas pumps already on the Mother Goose store property.

While Dunkin' Donuts -- which was only making a sign modification to its previously approved site plan -- got an easy, unanimous approval, the developer of the proposed Tim Horton's walked out of the meeting with no recommendation from the board.

That's better than a recommended disapproval, which raises the bar for the Town of Le Roy Planning Board approval. A no recommendation means the Tim Horton's plan can be approved by the town on a simple majority vote, instead of a majority-plus-one vote.

JFJ Holdings, of North Andover, Ma., is planning to build a Dunkin' Donuts at 125 W. Main St., which is across the street from the Yellow Goose Market and Gas Station.

The market is owned by Dave Tufts, who wants to add a Tim Horton's drive-thru to the west end of his building. Cars would enter from the north and exit to the south.

And at the south end of his property are gas pumps, and that is what concerns planners.

One or two cars queued up for gas could potentially block the drive-thru exit, plus there would be pedestrian traffic going in and out of the store.

Tufts and Dan Blamowski, with Tim Horton's, tried to assure planners that there would be no traffic congestion, but the argument wasn't persuasive enough.

On a night when the planning board was short a couple of members, the 4-2 vote for approval of the plan was one vote shy of the necessary five for approval.