I can't believe we're in this situation.”

Wendy Wajda

A preliminary plan filed Friday morning, Nov. 22, at Barrington Town Hall calls for the construction of a new Starbucks coffee shop to be built on the site currently home to the BP gas station and an auto repair shop.

The plan, filed by Caputo Project Delivery Solutions of Pawtucket, includes a drive-through lane for the Starbucks. The lane would enter from County Road and exit back onto County. 

Officials from Caputo had attended a planning board meeting in Aug. 2018 and discussed the idea of bringing a restaurant to the gas station property. They also discussed the construction of a drive-through lane.

At that meeting, Barrington Director of Planning, Building and Resiliency Phil Hervey said that the subdivision and land use standards in Barrington restrict drive-through lanes from exiting onto County Road. (In fact, the Dunkin Donuts located about a block north of the BP gas station on County Road does not have a drive-through.)

The preliminary plan filed Friday morning for the new Starbucks also calls for outdoor patios along the front of the building, situated a few feet from County Road. The plan shows a parking lot behind the building. The proposed Starbucks building would feature seating for 50 inside and 20 outside. 

The plan was filed just a few days after Wendy and Ken Wajda, who run the BP gas station and repair shop, received an eviction notice from the property owner, Getty Realty Corp., of Jericho, NY. 

The Wajdas have run the gas station and repair shop in Barrington for the last 18 years and were devastated by the news.

"I cannot wrap my head around it," said Mrs. Wajda, during an interview on Thursday, Nov. 21. "I don't know how that guy goes to bed every night. How do you sleep? I'm sitting at my dinner table last night, not even being able to put a forkful to my mouth, because I just want to cry, and I'm looking around at my family… my 77-year-old mother who lives with me, that I have to support. I have a mortgage I have to pay … and they're ripping both our jobs away from us. You can't collect TDI because you work for yourself. So … what do you do? 

"I'm looking around and thinking 'How does this guy sit down for dinner with his family knowing that you're doing that to somebody else?' That's why people say they won't work for corporate America any more. 

"I can't believe we're in this situation."

Mr. and Mrs. Wajda said the notice they received on Nov. 15 informed them that they had until the end of the month to vacate the property. The notice stated that they would forfeit anything left on the property after Dec. 10.

Mrs. Wajda said removing all their equipment from the property by the end of the month is a nearly impossible task, considering how much they have on the property at 227 County Road. 

"We've kept investing (in the property)," she said. "I just filled a $1,200 oil drum with oil for oil changes. I'm never going to go through that. My husband just spent $5,000 on a Jeep and a plow because it's our job to plow the parking lot… We would never have done that. No one saw this coming."

Mrs. Wajda said talk of a new business replacing her BP gas station and repair shop grew quiet following the Aug. 2018 planning board meeting, after Caputo officials learned about the town's restrictions regarding drive-through lanes. During that meeting, an official said that the drive-through lane was a "critical function" to the restaurant's operations.

There is currently a Starbucks coffee shop located in the Barrington Shopping Center, but it does not have a drive-through lane. There is also a Starbucks coffee shop in nearby Seekonk, Mass. that does feature a drive-through.