Taco Bell to Relocate Drive-Thru Menu Board

The drive-thru menu board at Kent's and the attached loudspeaker are moving a little closer to the northern edge of the eatery's property.

The business is adding its standard sign and menu board to replace the existing board, which advertised both Taco Bell and the former Long John Silver's that also occupied the same restaurant space.

Adam Macke, a representative for the GPD Group in Akron, which is handling the sign work, said the relocation of the sign will put it about 36 feet from a fence at the norther edge of the property buffering the drive-thru from the neighborhood.

"There was some concern about noise," Macke said at a recent Kent Planning Commission meeting. "The speaker should operate at a 45 decibel sound level, so you should only get 30 decibels at 16 feet, which is approximate to a whisper. It should not effect the neighbors behind the building. Especially with the trees and the fence there."

Kent Planning Commission chairman Anthony Catalano said at the board's June meeting that he thinks Macke's figure is a conservative estimate.

"I don’t think it would be a whisper," Catalano said.

Sarah Rilling, who lives nearby on Wilson Avenue, agreed with the Catalano.

Rilling said she can hear orders being placed at Taco Bell's drive-thru from a block away and it the speaker sounds like the parents on the classic Peanuts cartoon — a loud, muted brass wind instrument.

"This is not a whisper," Rilling said. "This actually is disturbing. And their peak hours are from about 1:30 in the morning to 3 in the morning. This goes on all night long."

Ultimately, the planning commission voted at its June 19 to permit the relocation of the sign, which will put the speaker closer to the northern edge of the property, subject to the condition that the menu reader board and its speaker complies with all local, relevent noise ordinances.

Macke said that if the volume is too loud on the speaker Taco Bell should be able to adjust it.

"It may be something that needs to be adjusted," he said.