Woodstock residents who fought against a proposed Waffle House in the historic downtown area won after the company withdrew its application Monday.
Council members never voted on the issue.
The proposed site of a new Waffle House was only a 10-minute walk from an existing location half a mile away on Towne Lake Parkway.
But the fact that the chain restaurant was already in Woodstock was only part of the reason a Change.org petition emerged to stop its development.
MORE: Woodstock residents fight downtown Waffle House plan
Resident Suzanne Litrel said a representative with Waffle House made the initial proposal, saying “When patrons of your fine restaurants need a place to sober up after everything closes down, now they’ll be able to go to Waffle House!”
She said she was horrified, as were the other attendees.
“A place like that has no business operating in historic Downtown Woodstock,” Litrel said.
The petition had more than 1,400 supporters by the time Woodstock’s planning commission approved the Atlanta-based company’s application on July 11.
Woodstock resident Jerry Kaufman said the issue came down to two questions: “Why is Waffle House hell bent on opening this store and why are they ignoring the fact that they are unwanted here?”
Kaufman answered his own question, proposing, “Waffle House is simply interested in the dollars and doesn’t care about the significant opposition from Woodstock residents.”
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Litrel, who attended the council meeting Monday, said the audience was told at the beginning Waffle House withdrew its application. She said she believed it had to do with variances the restaurant didn’t receive, such as the ceiling heights.
Planning commissioners voted 5-0 in favor of the restaurant proposal for 8558 Main Street at Towne Lake Parkway. The Hot Dog Heaven now in that spot would be razed and replaced by a Waffle House said to look like none other – with brick siding to resemble an early 20th Century mercantile building, and without the big, yellow, free-standing sign.
But some of the variances Waffle House didn’t get might have led to the company’s application being withdrawn, Litrel said.
“Waffle House has its marching orders from corporate,” Litrel said. “This includes the 24/7 operating rules.”
Litrel said she and other residents who live downtown were concerned about Waffle House’s third, late-night shift.
“So now that this is settled, I am going to ask city council to amend the code to prohibit such operating hours,” she said.
Kaufman said he plans to join with neighbors fighting to get the city code changed to prohibit 24 operations in the downtown Woodstock area.
“Waffle House heard loud and clear that we don’t want their store in downtown and now well make that prohibition permenant,” Kaufman said.
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