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Peachwave franchise to open in Longmeadow Shops

Date: 6/12/2012

June 11, 2012

By Chris Maza

chrism@thereminder.com

LONGMEADOW — At a recent Planning Board meeting, chair Walter Gunn expressed his opinion that the Longmeadow Shops needed a family-friendly or child-friendly establishment.

John and Cynthia Dombeck answered that call.

At the June 6 meeting of the Planning Board, the Dombecks outlined their plan to open a self-serve frozen yogurt shop in the former location of GMAC Carlson, next to Giftology in the Longmeadow Shops, located at 688 Bliss Road.

Gunn conveyed his excitement to have such an establishment move into town.

"I have pushed forever since Friendly's left that there had to be a venue for kids in Longmeadow," he said. "For me, I think this is a big coup and I think it's going to be great."

The board granted the Dombecks, residents in town since 1984, a waiver of site and design for the location, but reminded them that they needed to get approval for their sign and that they most likely would have to go before the Board of Health.

The frozen yogurt shop will be a licensed Peachwave location, John Dombeck explained to Reminder Publications.

"There are six or seven of them down in Connecticut. We'll be the first one in Massachusetts," he said. "We hope they're as popular here as they are everywhere else."

Cynthia Dombeck, who will oversee the operation of the business, said she was excited about the concept because "the customer is in total control of the whole process."

"The customer comes in and they have a wall with 16 choices of frozen yogurt to choose from and the customer will choose which size cup they would like and then they help themselves to their favorite flavor," she explained. "Then there will be a toppings section, which will be similar to a salad bar and you will have 25 to 30 different toppings."

The toppings selection "goes from as healthy as you want it to not-so-much," featuring everything from fresh fruit to gummy bears, John Dombeck added.

***


In other business, Gunn notified the board of a finding by town counsel regarding the accessory use by-laws.

The finding, Gunn explained, was in regards to a solar array on private property. The resident of Shaker Road wished to mount solar panels on the ground of his property instead of his roof because the roof was made of slate.

While the board originally determined that it was not a permitted use, town counsel David Martel told Gunn that it was.

"He said these accessory use by-laws have not held up in court when contested for a use that wasn't listed because the people who made these accessory by-laws didn't think of everything that might be OK," Gunn said. "What was more alarming was the fact that if you are going to use the solar [power] for personal use and not selling massive amounts of power back to the grid, it is protected by [Massachusetts] General Law 40A, section 3, that said you cannot unreasonably deny an applicant solar energy anywhere on his property as long as it's within the by-law, meaning the setbacks, etc."

Gunn added that the town is protected from someone developing a solar array with the intent of selling the energy because the town created a specific zone for commercial use of solar energy in the Meadows to the exclusion of all others when the town was exploring the possibility of a large-scale photovoltaic array there.



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