By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — A plan for a “fast-casual” restaurant with a drive-through at the corner of Post Road and Church Lane South has neighbors concerned, and now the fire marshal is as well.

An application for an unnamed restaurant at 1072 Post Road East, also known as 1060 Post Road East, was filed with the Zoning Board of Appeals in October.

Several neighbors wrote to the Planning and Zoning Department about their concerns, which included one-way traffic being channeled from Church Street South, a residential road, through the corner lot. They worried about traffic backups not only on that street, but the Post Road, as has been seen with the Starbucks drive-through not far away.

Some mentioned the traffic nightmare Norwalk has seen after Chick-fil-A opened a location there. Traffic routinely backed up onto the Post Road. The site has been closed since September, apparently, in part, to reconfigure the drive-through.

“The proposed ‘Casual Fast Food Restaurant’ located at 1076 Post Road East shows a one-way driveway with a new drive-thru feature that raises concern of emergency access in and out of the proposed parking lot,” Fire Marshal Terrence Dunn Jr. wrote to the Planning and Zoning Department on Wednesday.

“No turning radii are depicted on the main driveway. Access to the building with the drive-thru lane full of vehicles would be impacted,” he continued. “The current intersection of Church Street South and Post Road East is very narrow, and any overflow of the drive-thru possibly backing up onto the Post Road would inhibit emergency vehicles from making the turn on Church Street South.

“This office is not in favor of the proposed layout,” Dunn concluded.

The lot was for decades home to a Mobil gas station, but in recent years has sat unused. It was recently cleared of structures.

It’s the northwest corner of the Post Plaza shopping center, which was to be anchored by an Amazon Fresh store. But despite buildouts, repaving and various approvals, the supermarket space has sat silent, like numerous other Amazon “zombie” stores nationwide.

The restaurant plan has been discussed previously by the Architectural Review Board. It is on the agenda for the ZBA’s next meeting, online at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 35 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.