Town of Hartwick Approves
Restaurant Application

By DARLA M. YOUNGS
HARTWICK

The former Pizza Hut building on State Route 28 south of the Village of Cooperstown may soon become a combination Dunkin’/Baskin Robbins.

Last December, Town of Hartwick Planning Board members reviewed the site plan submitted by Todd Markevicz and Steven Songer of ADP Engineering and Architecture, determining that changes to the property at 23 Commons Drive will be minor. Those changes include: relocation of ADA parking and curb cuts; a new sidewalk; improved stormwater runoff and green space; resurfacing and restriping of the parking lot; and new street lighting and signage. A new drive-through lane will also be constructed.

As use of the building will remain similar to that of the former Pizza Hut, the New York State Department of Transportation has determined no traffic studies are necessary. Markevicz indicated at the December planning board meeting that the new facility could be open by summer.

The project application was declared complete by the Hartwick Planning Board on March 7. A motion was made and passed by planning board members at that meeting to designate the project as an unlisted action with a negative declaration under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act. A public hearing was deemed unnecessary, as the building is changing over from one restaurant chain to another.

Following the March 7 meeting, the application was sent on to the Otsego County Planning Department for further review, where it was determined to have “no significant county-wide or inter-community impacts.” The project was unanimously approved by the Hartwick Planning Board on April 4.