By EMMA BARTLETT

Scituate’s Tony Phouaykoumpha and Elizabeth Paul are owners of Latte Love locations on Comstock Parkway in Cranston and Killingly Street in Johnston. And now the couple is seeking to expand their business by investing $3 million in the vacant area across the street from their Cranston location.

The project is comprised of six lots owned by Cranston’s Dennis DeMarco. The land – which is 2.19 acres – has been in his family for 50 years and no development has been made to the site. Tony and Elizabeth will have to go through the city for a zone change which would change the area from M-2 zoning (heavy industrial) to C-5 zoning (commercial use).

Brian LaPlante represented the applicants at a site walk on April 20 and said they propose to build a 3,000 square foot restaurant with a drive-thru, a 7,000 square foot retail space and a 6,720 square foot storage unit.

The couple would move Latte Love to the proposed restaurant space. Their current location sits 50 people and the new site would seat 84 individuals and have rooftop seating. Additionally, being on the opposite side of the road would be easier for the business. LaPlante explained that most of the shop’s customers stop for coffee between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. Since most drivers on Comstock Parkway are traveling from Scituate Avenue toward Plainfield Pike, they will be able to take an easy right turn into the new development instead of having to turn left into the current Latte Love location. The building’s height would be about 17 feet.

LaPlante explained that the retail space could be for an office space such as an accountant office, insurance company or another type of professional business; there is also the possibility of having things like a dry cleaning service, and dance or exercise studio; the building would be 25 feet high.

In the back of the lot, Tony and Elizabeth propose building a self storage area which would be 6,720 square feet and have a height of 20 feet. LaPlante said the storage unit is similar to the type of buildings that are in the area, since there is a warehouse on the adjacent property.

The 2021 combined tax assessment on the value of the six lots is $438,100 and the 2021 combined tax payments for the lots is $11,828.70. The estimated value of the property upon the building completion and improvements would be $3 million with projected tax payments of $81,000; this would be a $69,171.30 increase in projected tax revenue.

Several residents who live in the Newbury Village condos on the corner of Scituate Avenue and Comstock Parkway voiced their concern about the increase of traffic to the area should the project go through. LaPlante said Tony and Elizabeth had a traffic report completed and the traffic engineer determined there would not be an issue. Cranston’s City Plan Department has looked at the report and will have the city conduct its own traffic report with the city’s traffic engineer.

Tony and Elizabeth, who opened Latte Love three years ago, have experience in development already. Their Johnston location is a similar setup to what they propose to do on Comstock Parkway; anyone looking to see an example of what to expect can look at that location.

The next step is to seek an ordinance change to the comprehensive plan for zoning.