In urban areas and in not so urban areas throughout the United States, there is a kind of landscape pollution that is emerging.

It's not the blight of years gone by, where we were concerned about crime, drug use and prostitution. Rather, this is a blight of doughnuts and coffee.

I don't know if you've noticed, but it seems to be that every other block in most developed areas has either a Dunkin' Donuts, a Starbucks, a Krispy Kreme, or a local equivalent.

For me, it's a real problem. Especially when you consider that some of these franchises are apparently requiring each franchisee to open up several units. This places greater pressure on these franchisees to meet placement commitments, resulting in new units just about everywhere you look.

In the case of one franchisee who owns many doughnut shops, the idea is that one shop actually does the baking. Neighboring shops receive daily deliveries from the store with the bakery operation.

Perhaps this is a great business model, but as one person recently said, the shops are erupting like fungi. They are in strip shopping centers, in gas stations, in supermarkets and sometimes they are stand alones.

True, we are an increasingly obese nation. But which came first, our relentless appetites or the proliferation of these shops?

Imagine the impression if someone was visiting us from outer space. He or she would report that we seem to love both doughnuts and coffee. Very expensive coffee.

If you visit New York City, you can spot one of these operations on almost every block in midtown Manhattan. In fact, often there are national competitors on every block - as well as small independents . Do coffee and doughnuts drive our entire economy?

And in my mind, this raises an interesting question: what did we all do for coffee before these expensive venues existed? We love paying over 2 bucks for a cup of coffee. Were we less happy when coffee was 75 cents.

My friends tell me that the expensive stuff is of a greater quality. I wonder how well my friends would do in a blind taste test. I don't think they could tell the difference between mini-mart coffee and the hi-brow stuff.

I certainly am a person who believes in free enterprise. And I'm also a large consumer of Dunkin' Donuts products (and becoming larger!)

The problem is that these things are proliferating everywhere. Yes, they are lucrative productions and they make money for their owners.

But there are simply too many of them. If it is true that franchisers are pressuring unit owners to open multiple units --- that practice should stop. Its helping coffee sales, but at the expense of a silly landscape.

And local land use boards and governing bodies should take a look at this issue as well. Stop issuing permits that encourage the growth of this fungi .

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.