A Chick-fil-A restaurant and a 7 Brew Coffee stand have been proposed for a shopping plaza on Storrs Road in Mansfield, a move that would bring the chicken chain to Tolland County for the first time. The plaza already houses Petco, The Hoot, Staples and The Farmer's Cow Calfé, and the new additions would slot in alongside those existing tenants.
According to Patch, the proposals call for Chick-fil-A to occupy a new 4,600-square-foot building along Route 6, complete with a small outdoor patio and two drive-thru lanes. The Connecticut Scoop reported that exterior renderings and elevations for the project have already been submitted to the town. If the Planning and Zoning Commission signs off, it would mark the first Chick-fil-A location in Tolland County.
A Prefabricated Coffee Stand Joins the Plan
Right next door, per the proposal, 7 Brew Coffee would occupy a 510-square-foot prefabricated building set on part of the plaza's existing parking lot. The coffee stand is designed to primarily serve drive-thru customers, with two drive-thru lanes planned of its own, the same report notes.
The plaza plan also calls for a new entrance opposite North Frontage Road that would tie into an existing traffic signal, easing the flow of vehicles in and out of the site. Chick-fil-A and 7 Brew are listed as planned tenants in the application, joining the plaza's current lineup of Petco, The Hoot, Staples and The Farmer's Cow Calfé.
Review Timeline Remains Unsettled
Neither project has received zoning approval, and accounts of the review calendar diverge. The same report from Patch said the applications were tentatively scheduled for consideration at the Planning and Zoning Commission's December meeting, with a public hearing that would give residents a chance to weigh in. CT Insider, however, reported that the commission was scheduled to review the plans on Oct. 19. The two timelines have not been reconciled in available reporting.
There's also a discrepancy over the plaza's exact address: Patch and the Connecticut Scoop both place the proposal at 82-86 Storrs Road, while CT Insider's report cites 82-84 Storrs Road. Under Mansfield's zoning code, new developments and major changes of use in the applicable district require special permit or site plan approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission, which according to town code weighs natural, historic and cultural resources alongside traffic, environmental and neighborhood impacts before signing off.
7 Brew's Connecticut Footprint Keeps Growing
7 Brew Coffee, founded in Rogers, Arkansas, in 2017, had grown to more than 600 locations across 38 states by this past spring, according to a CT Post report on the chain's expansion. That same report noted the Vernon 7 Brew was an immediate success, a sign of the brand's momentum in the state. 7 Brew has also pursued a similar drive-thru-only format in Middletown, where plans called for a two-story, 510-square-foot building with a two-lane drive-thru, 11 parking spaces, site lighting, landscaping and an enclosed trash bin — a project that, if approved, would become the chain's seventh Connecticut store.
For now, the Mansfield proposals remain subject to the town's standard land-use process, which per town guidance includes public hearings where residents can comment on specified applications. No decision on either the Chick-fil-A or the 7 Brew plan has been finalized.
