Signs advertise a combination Dunkin' and Baskin-Robbins in Hillsborough, New Jersey, in 2019.
By: K. Michelle Moran | Grosse Pointe Times | Published March 7, 2026
GROSSE POINTE WOODS — Grosse Pointe Woods could soon be home to a combination Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream establishment.
The Woods Planning Commission held a public hearing Feb. 24 on a special land use for 21043 Mack Ave., which would be the site of the business. The property — which is located between Roslyn and Hampton roads — is currently home to a massage business.
As a takeout business, Dunkin’ needs special land use approval; City Planner Laura Mangan, of McKenna, said no drive-thru was planned, nor is any outdoor dining.
Products aren’t baked on-site, so there would be daily deliveries of baked goods. Mangan said these deliveries take place between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. and are accomplished with smaller box trucks. Each delivery takes less than three minutes to unload, she said. The franchise owner offered to have the deliveries made via the Mack Avenue entrance rather than through the back alley, and since the Mack entrance is farther from residents, Planning Commission officials agreed that they would like that to be made the mandatory delivery location.
“It is consistent with the master plan,” Mangan said. “We don’t anticipate any nuisances from a bakery/coffeeshop.”
Woods resident and business owner David Spencer, who owns buildings at 21003 and 21015 Mack Ave., expressed concerns about parking, calling the amount of parking for Dunkin’ “inadequate.” Spencer said they have their own 12-space parking lot behind one of their buildings, but he’s worried that restaurant customers will park there.
“Our concern is that we are going to be constantly calling Grosse Pointe Woods to ticket people” parking illegally in the lot, Spencer said.
He said he was also worried that the restaurant would impede efforts to find a tenant for the smaller office space building at 21015 Mack Ave.
“We’re opposed to it,” Spencer said of the Dunkin’/Baskin-Robbins development. “We feel it depreciates our property (values).”
Parking is one of the issues that would be addressed during consideration of the site plan, although Mangan said the restaurant would meet the city’s parking requirements. It is required to provide six off-street spaces, and the site has seven behind the business. There are an additional 13 spaces within 500 feet of the business along Mack Avenue and Roslyn Road, the planners noted in their report. Mangan said that parking doesn’t include the spaces in Spencer’s lot.
According to Jeffery A. Scott Architects P.C., the architectural firm for the project, the hours of operation would be 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. There would be a maximum of six employees per shift, and employees would use the seven spaces behind the building. The dining area would have 16 seats.
The Planning Commission voted unanimously in favor of granting special land use for the property. Approval is contingent on several factors, including that deliveries must be made via the Mack entrance.
Spencer was disappointed by the commission’s vote of approval.
“They’re turning Mack into the Las Vegas Strip,” Spencer said.
At the recommendation of the city planners, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to table a vote on a site plan until it could be revised.
“We don’t feel the site plan is ready for your consideration to move forward,” Mangan said.
Mangan said the architects were trying to make the building look more modern, but the design they submitted “is quite a deviation from the other buildings along the corridor.”
Planning Commission Chair Douglas Hamborsky said the Woods has moved away from requiring styles like Williamsburg Colonial, classic, Early American, traditional or Georgian Colonial styles to emphasis traditional, quality materials instead. Still, the planners noted that the current design — including some of the colors — needs to be amended to be more in line with that.
“The white and pink stripes are a little disco-y for the neighborhood,” Hamborsky said.
Andrea Bader with Jeffery A. Scott Architects said the white and pink stripes are part of the standard appearance of these buildings.
“It’s a strong corporate thing unless it’s overruled by a city,” Bader said.
Planning Commission member Michael Fuller said the design was a “hodgepodge” lacking balance and proportion.
“The north elevation is just awful, the proportioning. … It’s aesthetically just extremely disconcerting to me,” Fuller said.
Planning Commission member John Schulte agreed.
Planning Commission member Michael Ellis said he’d like to see one or two parking spaces dedicated to delivery drivers so that they can get in and out quickly, given that such deliveries are common now.
“Delivery cars are everywhere,” Ellis said.
At press time, a date for a vote on a new site plan hadn’t been set yet.