The Hurley Planning Board, under orders to do so by a state appellate court, moved forward with Southern Realty and Development’s controversial Dunkin' drive-thru application at their meeting Thursday evening. The board gave Southern Realty several items to address in the proposal and set a date next month to review and potentially approve the site plan.

The review on Thursday follows two court rulings that in the end nullified the board’s site plan denial and directed the board to reconsider the application. In January 2022, town planners denied the application on the basis that a drive-thru would aggravate traffic at the already-tricky intersection of Routes 375 and 28. However, on June 27, 2022, state Supreme Court Judge Kevin Bryant vacated the board’s denial after developers filed an Article 78 motion. The planning board appealed Bryant’s ruling and on July 6, 2023, a three-judge state appellate court panel ruled that the board’s traffic concerns were “unsupported” by evidence, sending the application back to the board for further review. The appellate court’s decision cited the application’s approval from the state Department of Transportation and determined that the board’s rejection was based more on public pushback against the project than facts.

“The charge now for this board is to take off where we left off, consistent with the Court's decisions,” said Southern Realty representative Charles Gottlieb at Thursday evening’s meeting.

The meeting mostly addressed small issues with the Dunkin’ proposal’s lighting and landscaping plan, detailed by town planners in a seven-page memorandum. According to Gottlieb, some of the issues had already been addressed.

“We feel as though we are going around in circles,” said Gottlieb. “Many of those comments can be conditions of approval, and where we think those can be conditions of approval, we'll acknowledge that.”

Project engineer Thomas Kentop reiterated that the proposed Dunkin’ is a drive-thru only, with one entrance and exit for employees, limited employee parking and deliveries in off hours.

Town planner Bonnie Franson went through the memorandum and brought up mostly small concerns or unaddressed specifications for signage, drainage, and load-in parking.

“My intent is to be as comprehensive as possible, so we can get to the end goal here,” she said.

In the public comment period preceding the meeting, the application met with a mixture of support and disapproval from residents. Several residents expressed frustration with the lawsuits surrounding the application and begged the board to turn their attention elsewhere.

“I want to urge the board, as a taxpaying citizen in the town of Hurley — we gotta stop the madness with the lawsuits,” said resident Tim Kelly. “I'm a third-generation citizen, and I don't want to get priced out of living here.”

Raleigh Green called the lawsuits a “Don Quixote-type spectacle” and said the board’s site plan denial was based on “hunches,” not facts.

Other residents disagreed.

“Almost every day I drive through that intersection,” said Patty Goodwin. “I feel like I'm taking my life in my hands every single time I do that — making that left turn with two lanes of oncoming traffic is horrendous and harrowing.”

Because the appellate court rendered the board’s traffic concerns as insubstantial, Franson and the board did not bring up the subject during the discussion. The board gave the applicants recommendations for improvements to the site plan and set a special meeting for Thursday, Aug. 24 at 6 p.m. to review the amended site plan. The board also acquiesced to Gottlieb’s request to prepare a resolution for the special meeting to potentially approve the project after the review.

“I think the court decisions speak for themselves,” Gottlieb told Kingston Wire after the meeting.