MANCHESTER — Carl Andrade's plan for a new Dunkin' Donuts on a lot just off the Interstate 293 overpass on Granite Street needs a few more revisions.

Members of the Manchester Planning Board liked the changes from the original designs that Andrade made and presented at a meeting Thursday, but want a more complete traffic study before giving the OK Andrade needs to complete a deal to purchase the property from the city. More than anything, though, board members did not like the design of the building, which they panned at length during a 2½-hour meeting Thursday at City Hall.

“It's plain. It's bland. It's very square and boxy,” board chairman Michael Landry said in one of many criticisms, which also included complaints of the many shades of brown on the square building with horizontal siding.

Andrade said the design came from Dunkin' Donuts' corporate designers and wouldn't be his first choice, either. He told the board he would come up with a different building plan that members would find more aesthetically pleasing and that fit in better with the industrial architecture in the area.

“I'm not sure a building like this really fits,” board member Jack Brady said.

Andrade has a deal in place to purchase the lot from the city and a closing date set for October. The board promised to keep that in mind when Andrade unveils his latest design at next month's meeting. The planners voted to keep the public hearing on the item open and put off a vote until they see what other designs Andrade had.

“It's not new to me. It's not a problem doing it,” said Andrade, who owns the Dunkin' Donuts franchises on the city's West Side.

Board member Robert Campbell pointed out that the discussion was getting quite in depth for the architecture of a doughnut shop.

Planners seemed to like the initial traffic study, but board member Dennis Anctil noted the figures came from a study conducted in July in an area near West High School, where traffic conditions change considerably during the school year.

The planners heard several other matters and took most under consideration for the future, but did act on a request for a subdivision project on 6.67 acres owned the Sisters of Holy Cross at 377 Island Pond Road. The planners approved the project in June, but on Thursday denied a request for relief from a condition that several existing buildings on the property be removed first.

The sisters sent representatives who told the board the order could not get funding until the city signed off on the final deal and did not have the money to hire out removal of the buildings. After a confusing session of questions and answers and no public comments for or against the proposal, the board set it aside for a vote.

Landry recused himself from the item and the remaining board members voted unanimously against the request because it would knowingly create a zoning violation.

Ken Rhodes of CLD Consulting Engineers, the company that plans to build the subdivision, tried to explain the complicated scenario to the board during the meeting.

“The request was made. The request was denied. The original condition stands,” Rhodes said after being told of the board's decision.

The board also heard the latest from Quirk automotive group's plan to take the vacant Furniture Mall building across I-293 from the Mall of New Hampshire and convert it into a new delearship.

Quirk updated some landscaping plans for the site, which has been vacant for more than five years, and there was no public comment opposing the measure, which the board will vote on later this month.