A local eatery hopes to move across Route 30 by November after Irwin council approved its plans last week.
Council approved plans for a new 2,073-square-foot Dunkin' Donuts store at the site of the former Johnston Florist, near Dairy Queen, after a 6-0 vote.
Councilwoman Phyllis Thiem was absent.
Although a start date remains uncertain, the store's engineer, Bill Snyder of Monroeville-based Design 3 Architecture, expects crews to take approximately three months to open the new store.
The new store will replace Dunkin' Donuts' current Irwin location, which is between Route 30 and 10th Street.
The new store will be about 200 square feet larger than the old, which was built in 1973 and remodeled in 1993, according to Troy Berardi, owner of the Irwin Dunkin' Donuts franchise.
"That store has been there a long time," Berardi said. "The new store is definitely built a lot more efficiently."
Berardi said the new store includes space to make doughnuts and a drive-thru window. He expects about 60 percent of the store's business to come through the drive-thru window.
"This is a really tight site," Snyder said. "We really squeezed every inch to get the building in, the drive-thru and drive-around lanes, and the parking and access."
Before building the new store, the developers must receive approval for its storm-water management plan from the state Department of Environmental Protection and a highway occupancy permit to access Route 30, a state roadway, from PennDOT, manager Mary Benko said.
Councilwoman Gail Macioce thanked Berardi for keeping the shop in Irwin instead of relocating outside of the borough. She said the new store would add to the borough's presence along Route 30.
"It will really fill in that lot, which has been just sitting there, empty," Macioce said. "It's a big improvement."
Workshop changes
Council changed the dates of its workshop meetings in July and August.
Officials changed the July 4 meeting to July 5, because to the holiday, and the Aug. 1 meeting to Aug. 2, because of the Norwin Community Picnic at Idlewild Park & SoakZone.
Council typically holds its workshop meetings on the first Wednesday of the month and its voting meetings the following Wednesday.
