The town of Waynesville failed to convince Carrolls Corporation and Burger King to build a more aesthetically pleasing restaurant. Long John Silver, it appears, is more willing to listen.

“Long John Silver was much more amenable to listening to our suggestions,” said Town Planner Andrew Powell. “They were definitely much more accommodating.”

A representative of the restaurant chain appeared before the town appearance commission this week and agreed to get rid of some excess lighting and plant more trees between the building and the street, Powell said.

The town’s appearance commission, following recommendations gathered during the development of a land-use plan, is trying to reduce the visual clutter and traffic flow problems on Russ Avenue. The goal is to convince fastfood restaurants and other businesses to design unique buildings that fit in a small mountain town as opposed to the traditional designs used across the country.

It’s not just the town that is applying pressure. A grassroots group known as Citizens in Action had about 10 people protesting at Burger King Saturday morning.

“We hope to make a point about Carrolls and Burger King, and we hope Long John Silvers will make the right choice,” said Roscoe Wells, president of CIA.

Wells was walking the sidewalk in front of Burger King with others who were holding placards denouncing the chain for building what the group terms a “one size fits all” restaurant.

Carrolls Corporation, which owns about 350 Burger King franchises, announced several months ago it was going to rebuild its Waynesville restaurant. The town appearance commission and planners immediately asked the company to come up with a design that would begin the evolution of Russ Avenue. Town officials and citizens had hoped Burger King would lead the way. When it refused, CIA decided to protest .

“... it is apparent Carrolls Corporation and Burger King are overlooking a unique chance to increase business, profits and community respect,” Wells wrote to the construction manager of Carrolls Corporation in Nashville.

The Burger King Corp., for its part, submitted a letter to Mayor Henry Foy saying it was “sensitive to the unique characters of the communities we serve or would like to serve.” The letter went on to say that the company would offer Carrolls Corp. the use of its construction manager. In the end, Carrolls did not change anything in the design of its Waynesville store.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News