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02/25/2016 01:46 PM

Chipotle Blazing a Trail into Branford


This side of 2 Commercial Parkway is being proposed for demolition so that a new, stand-alone Chipotle resturant can be built at the end facing Commercial Parkway (far left corner).Pam Johnson/TheSound

National restaurant chain Chipotle is blazing a trail into Branford, with a new stand-alone restaurant planned for the west side of town, just a few steps away from another popular stand-alone, Starbuck's Coffee.

Plans on file call for "partially demolishing" a 5,395 square-foot building at 2 Commercial Parkway to make way for a 2,495 square-foot Chipotle. Three businesses -- Subway, Moonstar Chinese Restaurant and Branford Cigar & More, currently occupy three rental units of the building to be demolished; a fourth is unoccupied. 

The new Chipotle Mexican Grille will include a sit-down restaurant and outdoor patio. The restaurant will not have a drive through window. The design calls for re-focusing restaurant frontage to face Commercial Parkway rather than Route 1 (residents know Commercial Parkway as the road leading to Wal-Mart at 120 Commercial Parkway).

Plans also call for closing the existing driveway entrance and adding a new curb cut that's 110 feet further up Commercial Parkway. A total of 36 parking spaces, including two handicapped spaces, will be striped in on the re-configured lot; an increase from the .78 acre site's current 32 parking spaces.

Chipotle's plans were submitted Feb. 18 by architectural/engineering firm BL Companies on behalf of applicant Centercorp Retail Properties (Salem, MA). The property owner is listed as 870 North Main St. LLC.

The site plan revision is currently under review by Branford's Planning and Zoning Commission, which will continue its' discussion of the application at its next meeting, March 3, 7 p.m. at Canoe Brook Senior Center.

At its website, www.chipotle.com Chipotle Mexican Grille promotes its restaurants as serving "food with integrity" and is known for its appeal to ardent fans, especially teens and young adults. Currently, local fans of Chipotle need to travel to franchise sites in Milford, Hamden or New Haven to reach the closest restaurant.

Also at its website, the company offers a "See What We've Done to Make Our Food As Safe As Possible" link on it's homepage, as it continues to rebound from national news of an E. Coli outbreak at some restaurants in late 2015. The outbreak sickened 55 people in 11 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The CDC declared the outbreak over on Feb. 1 2016.

This rendering showing the outline of a new Chipotle restaurant in Branford is on file at the town's zoning office.Pam Johnson/The Sound