A proposed independent coffee shop in a small commercial district in suburban Connecticut has drawn organized opposition from nearby residents. Forty-seven of them signed a petition presented to the town planning board.

Their objection: the coffee shop would cause an “unacceptable increase in foot traffic.”

The petition stated: “This business would fundamentally alter the character of our neighborhood by attracting a volume of visitors that the area was not designed to accommodate.”

The area in question is a commercially zoned district containing a dry cleaner, a nail salon, a pizza shop, and a vacant storefront (the proposed coffee shop location).

The petition did not address why the existing pizza shop’s foot traffic was acceptable but a coffee shop’s would not be. When asked at the planning board meeting, a petition organizer clarified that “pizza is different” but did not elaborate.

The coffee shop would seat 24 people. The pizza shop seats 30.

The planning board approved the application. The coffee shop is expected to open this fall. It will serve coffee to people who walk there on foot, which is apparently the problem.