Council OK's Subway Plan

The Hyattsville City Council unanimously approved plans for a proposed new Subway restaurant franchise in the heart of downtown Baltimore Avenue.

Specifically, the city council voted to support a request before the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission to amend development standards for the Gateway Arts District which would allow the restaurant to be built. The support has two caveats: the franchise may not operate a drive-thru or walk-up window, and that the site seat a maximum of 18 customers.

The property presently holds a small abandoned building which was recently a thrift store.

Jagjot Khandpur, a Potomac resident with many years experience running Subway franchises, purchased the property in 2011 specifically to develop it into a Subway restaurant, according to city documents. 

Khandpur's plan for the new franchise violates development standards requiring that new development take up at least 80 percent of lot frontage and another requirement mandating a two lane driveway to access a rear parking lot. Due to the small size of the lot, Khandpur's proposed restaurant cannot meet both requirements.

The proposed Subway franchise would be a one story, 1,400 square-foot stucco, brick and cinderblock building sitting atop a 6,300 square-foot lot. Behind the building would be a five-space parking lot accessible by a 22-foot-wide two lane driveway.