DESPITE opening to customers this past January, Krispy Kreme has now applied to Limerick City and County Council for fresh planning permission for its Dooradoyle store.
A notification to the planning authority shows that the US doughnut chain intends to apply to the council for retention permission for the change of use of its outlet in the Crescent Shopping Centre from retail to café use.
The planning notice states that the chain wishes to apply for permission for the “sale of food and drinks for consumption within and off the premises internal seating area”, suggesting that if permission is granted, the outlet would feature tables and chairs for customers to use.
At present, the Limerick outlet only allows customers to purchase food and does not have patron seating.
The chain’s first application for planning permission, lodged in February, was deemed ‘invalid’ by council planners due to the fact that Krispy Kreme had applied for planning permission rather than retention permission, as the store is already open and operating.
The company lodged its second planning application to the council on March 4, with the application currently at pre-validation stage.
This isn’t Krispy Kreme’s first time applying to a local authority for retention permission after already opening a store.
Its outlet on Cork’s Patrick Street is now in doubt after Cork City Council planners refused an application for the doughnut chain.
The Patrick Street store opened in April 2023 and, seven months later, applied for “retention of change of use from previous retail to cafe with internal seating for sale of food and drinks for consumption within and off the premises”.
In January of this year, Cork City Council refused the application for planning permission, stating that “existing cafe use” is contrary to some objectives of the City Development Plan “relating to the prime retail function of the city centre”.
