May 16. By Dave Vieser. You can already purchase burgers, tacos and even prescription drugs without leaving your car, thanks to drive-through windows. Soon, Cornelius ice cream lovers will also be able to satisfy their sweet tooth by using a new drive-through at Bruster’s Ice Cream on Kenton Place. The town board approved a conditional use permit (CUP) for the window. Work should begin as soon as Bruster’s submits an erosion control plan with construction details.

The window will be on the south side of the current store, with access from the parking lot behind Bruster’s, according to Planning Director Wayne Herron. “It will be a one-way, 12-foot driveway from the rear parking lot to Kenton Drive. Exiting cars will have a right-turn-only movement onto Kenton,” Herron said.

 “Removing that tree and putting a replacement in the buffer zone further away will be like a missing tooth in the streetscape”

– Cornelius Mayor Chuck Travis.

During the public hearing, Mayor Chuck Travis took issue with Bruster’s plans to remove a tree near the new driveway. “Removing that tree and putting a replacement in the buffer zone further away will be like a missing tooth in the streetscape. I urge you to rethink that idea.” Travis also asked Bruster’s to consider making the new driveway straight rather than having it curve to the right as proposed.

Company officials agreed with Travis’ recommendations.  “We have no problem with those changes,” said Greg Fiedler, owner of the Bruster’s franchise. “We were applying for the drive-through in order to get a little bit more business to our store, and we thought the drive-through might also help the other businesses in that area too.”

The franchisor is a Pittsburgh-based ice cream company with 185 shops in the US (mostly east of the Mississippi), and Guyana, plus 10 new stores coming soon in South Korea. Founded in 1989, their annual sales run approximately $60 million.