Plans for Baskin Robbins-Dunkin Donuts in Holmes Beach worry island business owners, officials

A vacant space in a Holmes Beach plaza is causing great concern among local business owners and officials. It’s nestled in a 60,000-square-foot plaza on East Bay Drive that was built in 1986 and purchased in 1993 by Benderson Development Co., one of Manatee County’s biggest landowners.

The empty store at 3302 E. Bay Drive, is expected to be the next home of Baskin Robbins-Dunkin Donuts.

“The mom and pop shops; that’s how we’ve been owned on the island for years, and that’s what people respect about Anna Maria Island,” said Chet Zarzycki, owner of Holy Cow Ice Cream and Gifts, in the same plaza at 3234 E. Bay Drive. “This opens up the floodgates and it makes you ask, ‘What’s next?’”

Like others, he is more concerned about losing the island’s charm than he is about losing business.

The business does not have a business tax receipt yet, according to Holmes Beach code enforcement officer James Thomas.

Several people on the island, however, have seen a sign on the empty store’s window announcing the franchise would be arriving soon. As of Thursday, the sign was no longer there. Thomas told a Herald reporter that the sign was removed because the business did not yet have a tax receipt, therefore it cannot advertise.

Messages to Benderson leasing official Mark Chait were not returned by end of Friday.

Other corporate establishments housed in the plaza include Walgreens, Subway and Dollar Tree. Publix and CVS have locations just north of the Benderson plaza. Soon, there will also be a Smoothie King.

Zarzycki knows people on the 7-mile barrier island are already concerned about traffic, parking and congestion, and said franchises like Baskin Robbins-Dunkin Donuts would exacerbate those issues. He’s afraid other fast-food giants like McDonald’s or Starbucks would follow.

Zarzycki has three years left on his five-year lease with Benderson, and though he knows a competing business “100 feet from my door” would affect his sales, he’s concerned for Anna Maria Island as a whole.

“It’s the beginning of the end of a tradition on the island,” he said.

Judy Owens, who owns Cupcake Delights at 3324 East Bay Drive, said she heard the news about a week ago. One of her employees stopped by to pick up his paycheck and asked if she saw the Dunkin Donuts sign on the window. Owens said she walked over and saw the sign, which read “Coming soon: Dunkin Donuts & Baskin Robbins.”

“I called Benderson and told them that I didn’t think it was fair,” the 52-year-old said Thursday as she sat inside her business. Owens recently invested $200,000 into renovating her 2,400-square-foot spot in the plaza, which opened May 10.

Owens’ face creased with worry as she spoke about how she thinks it will affect her business, and said the franchise will really hurt Zarzycki.

“It’s not so much just taking business, it’s that I think it changes the landscape of the island when you start bringing franchises like that in,” she said. “We need our Publix and our Walgreens and that kind of stuff, but when it comes to just that kind of franchise I think it kind of hurts it. People come to the island because they want the uniqueness and the ‘Old Florida’ feel and when you start popping those up all over then... I think it’s just going to open the door for other franchises.”

Holmes Beach Commissioner Pat Morton has brought up the subject to his fellow commissioners at two recent meetings.

“This is the worst thing we’ve ever had come into the city,” he said Thursday evening. “Holmes Beach was set up on mostly the mom-and-pop type things. Yes, we have some chains in here, but this one’s going to put about three or four of them out of business.”

Morton foresees problems for other businesses in the plaza, including Paradise Bagels Cafe, Holy Cow Ice Cream and Gifts, and Cupcake Delights.

“We are trying to keep the chain stores, big ones like this, (from) coming in because it’s not our character for the island,” he said. “It’s very upsetting to see this come into our city and there’s nothing really we can do to stop it right now.”

Next thing you know, Morton said, the city will have a McDonald’s.

Some Manatee County residents aren’t entirely opposed to a Baskin Robbins-Dunkin Donuts location on the island.

Lindy Tucker, an artist and a full-time Manatee County resident from New Jersey, said she liked seeing a familiar brand when she moved to Florida five years ago. Her profession also requires her to use a temporary office space from time to time, which she often finds at Dunkin Donuts. But she’s undecided about what a Baskin Robbins-Dunkin Donuts Holmes Beach location might do to other island businesses.

“I don’t know; I’m on the fence,” she said. “Nobody offers anything like this, and for me it’s the office and the cheaper coffee. But I can understand both points of view on that.”

“If they want to put a Dunkin Donuts there, that’s fine,” said Tom Johnson, a year-round resident who stopped by the Dunkin Donuts on Manatee Avenue on Friday morning with his wife, Judy Johnson. He doesn’t have a preferred location, though, and would go to either one.

“We’ll go there, go here; it doesn’t matter,” he said. “We go to other stores, too.”

In the city of Anna Maria, nothing in the city’s codes prohibits franchise establishments, according to City Clerk Diana L. Percycoe.

Nancy Deal, a 15-year resident of Holmes Beach, said many residents are horrified.

“We want to keep the island unique and we want to serve local owners,” the 67-year-old retired educator said. “As residents, we want to support our local vendors and our local restaurants. Local restaurants keep that flavor, keep that culture, keep that sense of community.”

Deal likened the chains to short-term vacation rentals, which she said are now in proliferation.

“We have to stop them (chain businesses) at some point in time,” Deal said. “We can’t let them take over.”

Holmes Beach Commissioner Marvin Grossman said the city’s attorney is examining regulations from different communities around the United States and how they regulate franchises.

“We already have CVS and Walgreens, Dollar Tree, Publix, Subway and Domino’s, so I think it’s going to be difficult to lock out all the chain businesses. But we are exploring the possibility of trying to in some way,” Grossman said. “I’m not super encouraged that we will be able to eliminate all future chain stores from the island, except we do have prohibition of drive-thrus for restaurants.”

Grossman’s preference for the city would be to have local businesses because it sets more of “a small-town ambiance.”

“There are changes in communities, especially in tourist towns like Daytona Beach. It turned into almost a complete party town and that’s one of the things that we want to prevent,” he said. “We want to keep a balance between the residents and the visitors, and that includes the kinds of businesses that we attract or make available for our visitors.”

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 6:30 PM with the headline "Plans for Baskin Robbins-Dunkin Donuts in Holmes Beach worry island business owners, officials."