STAFF REPORTNorth Country This Week

POTSDAM—The Dunkin‘ Donuts location at 132 Market St. has closed, as of Aug. 1, but the “protest toilets” remain throughout the village.

The closure leaves the Dunkin’ Donuts located in the Mountain Mart at 119 Maple St. as Potsdam’s sole location for the franchise. 

Signage was removed from the Market Street building around Aug. 1, and the location was removed from Dunkin’s online directory around Aug. 7. 

Dunkin’ corporate has not responded to multiple requests for comment. 

The property is assessed at $240,0000 and is owned by Aley Property Holdings LLC in care of White Management. The company also owns the adjacent 134 Market Street property.

Calls to the number listed for the property indicate it is no longer in service.

Locally, the Market Street Dunkin’ Donut location has some claim to fame as the original proposed location for the business led to Potsdam’s “potty town” dispute.

The dispute was made  famous nationwide by a documentary titled “Potty Town,” which is still available on Amazon.com. The film tells the story of Frederick J. "Hank" Robar who used toilets to protest the Village of Potsdam's decision to deny a zoning change that would have allowed him to sell his Market Street property across what is now Five Guys to a buyer who planned to open a Dunkin’ Donuts franchise.

That denial led to a decades-long feud between Robar and the village. Despite several code changes aimed at limiting his ability to continue his toilet protest, the toilets remain to this day. 

The most recent attempts by the village to issue code violations led to a lawsuit which cost local taxpayers at least $25,000.

Robar won the lawsuit he initiated against the village in 2020 after the village ordered him to disassemble his toilet gardens on property he owns on Market and Maple streets. His lawsuit sought $7 million in damages but both parties have refused to disclose the settlement amount, citing a confidentiality agreement.

The retired businessman set up old toilets with plastic flowers on seven locations starting in 2005 to protest the village’s denial of a zoning variance to allow him to sell property for construction of a Dunkin’ Donuts.

Legal wrangling by the village over the years to have the toilets removed finally resulted in the municipality rolling out a revised junk storage code in 2018 which included rules on bathroom fixtures, including toilets and toilet fixtures. Several citations for Robar followed and finally the village’s resolution ordering the bowls be removed.

Robar then launched his lawsuit arguing that the toilet displays were essentially folk art and protected free expression. In February of this year the village board voted unanimously to rescind its July 20, 2020 resolution that directed Robar to empty the properties of all toilets and bathroom fixtures.

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