Borough attorney Sal Alfieri and planning consultant Fred Heyer at Monday’s council meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A missing-in-action law that banned fast food restaurants in Fair Haven is effectively revoked and will have to be rewritten, the borough’s attorney said Monday night.

In that case, the next one needs to address “ambiguities” that enabled a proposed — and controversial — Dunkin’ coffee shop to clear the first hurdle to possible approval, officials and residents said.

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Former Councilwoman Bea Sena reads minutes from a 2002 council meeting at which she voiced concern that parts of the borough code had gone missing. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Fast food joints in Fair Haven? Why, there oughta be a law, say some residents, angered by a pending proposal for a Dunkin’ coffee shop.

Well, it turns out there is — or was — a borough ordinance explicitly prohibiting fast food restaurants. But it seems to have vanished from the town’s official code book, a resident told the borough council Monday night.

What that means to the most controversial planning board application in recent history, as well as others expected to soon follow, immediately became a lightning rod issue.

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