Editorial: The door's wide open

Thursday, 19 January 2012 01:00

Most consider Subway fast food. So does Subway. But, apparently, that was not enough to convince town officials.

Instead, the town recently approved plans to build two Subways — in Goldens Bridge and Cross River — despite having provisions in the Town Code to restrict fast-food establishments in a retail business district. This was viewed with such importance by town officials that only four years ago they spent months tweaking the Town Code to better define "fast food" in large part to prevent such establishments from setting up shop in town. However, their perception of Subway as something other than fast food may instead open the door to what they want to keep out of Lewisboro.

Despite the more specific definitions, there are still gray areas in the revised designations. For example, is Subway a "specialty delicatessen," which is allowed under the Town Code? Or is it "an establishment primarily engaged in the retail sale of preprepared or quickly prepared meals and other food and beverage products available upon a short waiting time, generally served in disposable or prepackaged containers or wrappers and where patrons usually select their orders from a standardized posted menu offering a limited number of specialized items and/or standardized array of items, such as, but not limited to, hamburgers, chicken, fish and chips, pizza, tacos and hot dogs, which are prepared according to standardized procedures for consumption either on or off the premises in a facility where a substantial portion of the sales to the public is by stand-up service and cleanup is generally performed by the patron?" The latter is the town's exact definition of a fast-food establishment.

Subway meets nearly all the provisions in that definition, including serving a limited number of specialized/standardized items, such as sandwiches, as well as chicken and pizza, has a standardized posted menu, there is a short waiting time, food is served in disposable containers and the patrons largely clean up after themselves.

The "specialty delicatessen" falls under the town's permitted "restaurant, limited-service carry-out" designation, which is what officials consider Subway. That definition, "an establishment primarily engaged in the on-site preparation and retail sale of 'carry-out' food and beverage products from a counter-type installation for consumption off the premises but which may also include the incidental sale of ready-to-consume food and beverages for consumption on the premises," stresses the take-out component of ice cream shops, bakeries and, of course, specialty delicatessens, all of which fall under the category. Cameron's Deli clearly fits this description: There is no indoor seating and a few outdoor seats during the warmer months only.

The normal Subway, though, has a number of tables, most of which are filled during lunch hours, its busiest time, and it doesn't offer cold cuts by the pound, a staple of most delicatessens. Take-out is definitely an option but so, too, is a sit-down meal, which Subway customers often do.

Subway, itself, acknowledges its fast-food label. On its own website, Subway describes its beginnings as something "that would change the landscape of the fast food industry." Also on the website, there is a press release proudly announcing that, for the third straight year, Subway received top-billing in three categories in the 2011 Zagat Fast-Food survey.

But why the concern about what category the sandwich chain falls into, and its emergence in Lewisboro? It's not just semantics. Subway could open the door to something town officials have been trying to avoid in order to "preserve the town's character."

Forget the definitions. If McDonald's, KFC, Arby's, Wendy's or Burger King wants to open a franchise in Lewisboro — all fast-food joints that town officials desperately do not want here — they can make the claim, a legitimate one, that little separates them from Subway. Therefore, because the town opened the door for Subway, they must do the same for them. That would leave the town with two options: Let them in or face a lawsuit.