Bensalem Council approved a plan for a drive thru coffee shop that will be located on 3625 Horizon Boulevard where the Wells Fargo Bank used to operate
Rob Lewis from Kaplin Stewart law offices represented the applicants Shunori Ramanathan and Zack Roskamm of the coffee franchise 7 Brew Coffee at the township meeting on Aug. 24, going over their plans for the property.
“7 Brew specializes in premium coffee, smoothies, energy drinks and milkshakes.” Lewis explained to the Council. “It is nearly entirely drive thru service. They do have the ability to do walk up, but it is not something that is encouraged.”
Lewis explained to Council that because of 7 Brew’s drive thru only model, franchise buildings are only 510 square foot buildings, making the Wells Fargo building a perfect match to be repurposed without any major changes needed.
The only changes being made to the site is the drive thru lanes are being reduced from five lanes to three, which Lewis explained was done so that personnel could move between the vehicles.
“You’ll see there’s wider gaps between the lanes because you do have hand delivery by employees to the cars.” Lewis told council members.
The plans presented to council show 30 stacking spaces for vehicles, but according to Lewis the site could probably hold up to 55 cars if needed.
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7 Brew has gone through two review cycles and passed with a clean recorded, with the only waiver request in regards to lighting being taken care of.
“We are going to revise the light plan. We had on our original plan slightly less lighting then the ordinance prescribed under the canape utilizing the lighting Wells Fargo had, but we will upgrade that in a manner that will make that compliant.” Lewis said.
Councilman Joseph Wenzel Jr. asked if 7 Brew could dedicate the whole northeast side of the property to employee parking, as the plans model of only two designated employee parking spots would be insufficient for the six to eight employees that would work at the location.
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“Then that will eliminate people trying to back in and out of those spaces, which in turn will help avoid a fender bender that our police would have to go out and take care of.”
Lewis explained that they will mark off dedicated spots for the employees that will be convenient for them. Another suggestion Wenzel Jr. made was for a square to be placed where employees could come out and ask customers to not block the stack spots so people could pull out safely.
Lewis agreed and explained that when peak period is reached for 7 Brew, employees are trained to not only help take and deliver orders earlier, but also manage vehicles.
“It’s just trying to keep our police from dealing with little things when they could be dealing with bigger things.” Wenzel Jr. stated.
In a moment of levity Council President Edward Tokmajian Jr. said that he was disappointed 7 Brew’s plans involved removing the banking tubes that could potentially deliver coffee to the customers, which caused fellow members to laugh.
Wells Fargo closed operations at the site in September of 2024
Lewis said plans are for the Horizon Blvd location to open in early 2027.
Council approved the plan the unanimously.
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