PLATTSBURGH — Olive Garden is the top requested restaurant/business in the Town of Plattsburgh’s recently launched development survey so far.

Town Supervisor Michael Cashman told the Plattsburgh Noon Rotary Club Wednesday that there have been 1,435 responses to the survey as of that day. Of those, 391 listed Olive Garden as a business they want to come to Plattsburgh.

Following that, the second most requested business has been Trader Joe’s.

“There’s a lot of other things that people want too,” Cashman said, referencing the hundreds of other respondents.

“See why this is important to really kind of spread that out there?”

A further breakdown of the data revealed that 50.2% of respondents were nearby community members, meaning “non Town of Plattsburgh residents,” Cashman said, 48.6% were town residents and just 20 were from Vermont or Canada.

Additionally, the top three for types of businesses requested have been “indoor recreation” at number one, followed by “retail” at number two and “children’s activities” at number three so far.

“The reason that we chose to try to create that catchment within the survey is we want people to understand there are a number of national chains and businesses that we’d love to see in the area, but that’s not all that we’re looking for,” the supervisor continued.

“We’re hoping local developers may be inspired and say, ‘Hey, listen, I can do it the Plattsburgh way, I can do it the North Country way, I can do it a better way.’ and maybe they’ll do a spin-off of a local restaurant or say, mini golf. Mini golf has been one of those things that a lot of people have been talking about, for example.”

While the results are early — just under three weeks since the new development guide and survey launched — it’s been telling what the community wants so far.

Specifically, in a question and answer period, Cashman was asked about the Crete Center area and if he knew of any plans for it.

He was quick to note that is not the town’s jurisdiction, but said the survey results so far have shown a desire for more recreational opportunities — like the Crete had provided.

“This is why it’s critical that we’re getting this information from the survey, as you can tell, respondents are saying that outdoor recreation, recreation and youth activities are in priority,” he said.

“And we’ve had conversations with a number of people. The YMCA is a great example. It’s going to be right here on New York Road, that those types of enterprises are things that we as a region should be supporting. We’re super excited about that new flagship, but we’ve also had conversations with other people that may be trying to do their own free enterprise sports facility. So more to come.”

Those interested can find the survey here: https://www.townofplattsburgh.com/developinplattsburgh/

Cashman said after that he anticipates his team will be reaching out to businesses with these early results at the end of the month.