AWARD WINNING EDITORIAL
INCLUDING THE HUDSON VALLEY FEBRUARY 14, 2022 VOL. 58, No. 7
westfaironline.com
Front elevation rendering of Chick-fil-A proposed for Yonkers.
CHICK-FIL-A SEEKS APPROVAL FOR LOWER HUDSON VALLEY LOCATION BY PETER KATZ Pkatz@westfairinc.com
C
entral Park Avenue in Yonkers, long noted as a focal point for shopping and food establishments ranging from fast food to fine dining, soon may become home to a new Chick-
fil-A. The company has more than 2,400 of its fast-food restaurant locations in 47 states, including the District of Columbia. It does not have an outlet in the lower Hudson Valley, but does have a presence in Connecticut, including in Norwalk, Danbury, Newington, Glastonbury, Brook-field and West Hartford.
Yonkers presently is reviewing an application submitted by Chick-fil-A, Inc. to redevelop a 1.18acre parcel the company is leasing at 2205 Central Park Ave. at the intersection of Roxbury Drive. The land is developed with a building that formerly housed an HSBC Bank branch. The existing building would be demolished.
The former bank building is 6,246 square feet in size and the site has 43 parking spaces and two drive-through lanes. The property has access to both Central Park Avenue and Roxbury Drive. Chick-fil-A is proposing to construct a new restaurant building, which would have two drivethrough lanes. There would be
takeout windows in an area protected by a 1,888-square-foot canopy. Ordering would take place at a separate 1,386-square-foot canopy area. The indoor dining room and kitchen would occupy 3,813 square feet in the building. The indoor restaurant and an outdoor patio area would have a total » CHICK-FIL-A
6
Connecticut's maple syrup producers tap small but sweet profits BY JUSTIN MCGOWN jmcgown@westfairinc.com
F
ollowing an unusually warm December, January brought bitterly cold temperatures that many in the state
bemoaned. But it was enthusiastically welcomed by the state’s small but serious community of maple syrup producers who rely on the freeze-thaw cycle to coax the sap they refine into syrup out of the state’s maple trees.
“Last year the harvest was very poor across the entire maple region,” Mat Wilkinson, president of the Maple Syrup Producers Association of Connecticut (MSPAC). Wilkinson has firsthand
knowledge of the challenges facing maple syrup producers, as he also runs Wilkinson Farm in Tolland County’s Columbia. Wilkinson has around 700 taps in trees. In 2021, his crop was only 70% of a normal year, and
he reported other association members saw a similar shortfall. Nonetheless, he remains optimistic for 2022’s yield. “This kind of extended cold freeze-thaw cycle we’re expe» MAPLE SYRUP
6