Coupeville residents will soon have another place to eat as the first restaurant franchise in recent memory is planned.
The Pizza Factory, a California-based pizza franchise, is scheduled to open Oct. 1 in the new building being constructed at Coupe’s Village.
“I think we really found a good neighborhood,” said Lee Stuber, who is from Anacortes and will co-manage the restaurant with his wife, Linda.
He recently bought the franchise license and kitchen equipment from the former Pizza Factory based in Clinton that closed this spring.
The 2,000-square-foot Coupeville location will have enough space to seat about 50 people. The restaurant will also house video games, a patio and will serve beer and wine, Stuber said.
The Pizza Factory in Coupeville will be affiliated with the location in Oak Harbor and is part of a larger corporation of Pizza Factories with more than 100 restaurants in the western United States and in China.
Although Coupeville has a population of 1,700 people, Stuber said the outlying population of approximately 14,000 people gives the company a large enough population base to support the restaurant and falls within the company’s requirements of serving communities between 8,000 and 20,000 people.
Stuber added that the Pizza Factory will use part of its budget to support community activities such as sponsoring a Little League team. Such contributions are part of the factory’s franchise agreement.
Coupeville Town Planner Larry Cort said the only step the restaurant has to go through is getting a sign approved by the town’s Design Review Board.
The Pizza Factory will be the latest addition to Coupe’s Village and will have some more company when the 5,000-square-foot building is complete in October.
CADA is set to move into some office space located above the factory and remaining space will be used as warehouse room for several businesses.
Ted Clifton, owner of Coupe’s Village, said that a chiropractor was originally set to go into the Pizza Factory location. However, that person found space in Freeland that was more suitable to his needs.
In addition to the current construction of the building set to house the Pizza Factory, Clifton added that plans are underway for a sixth building at Coupe’s Village — a project that would fill out the complex located on South Main across from the elementary school.
The pizza factory’s appearance in the town is a concern to residents such as Steve Hallen, who pointed out at the recent town meeting that the Pizza factory is one of the first large franchise restaurants in Coupeville and its appearance could open the door for more franchises in the future.
Cort said that it would be unlikely that any fast-food restaurants would move into Coupeville because drive-throughs aren’t allowed within the town’s limits. The drive-through at the banks in town remains due to a grandfather clause.
The planner added that the lot sizes are typically smaller in Coupeville and any building would be subject to the town’s design standards.
