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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-013 Inf Sheet 6901 Brooklyn Blvd Application Filed on 7-28-05 City Council Action Should Be Taken By 9-26-05 (60 Days) Planning Commission Information Sheet Application No. 2005-013 Applicant: Reno & Associates Location: 6901 Brooklyn Blvd Request: Site and Building Plan/Special Use Permit The applicant, Tommie Reno on behalf of Reno and Associates, is seeking site and building plan approval and a special use permit to construct an approximate 900 sq. ft. Checkers drive in restaurant at the northwest corner of 69th Avenue North and Brooklyn Boulevard (6901 Brooklyn Boulevard). The property in question is zoned C-2 (Commerce) and is a vacant parcel of land approximately 21,000 sq. ft. (.48 acres) in area. It is bounded on the west by R-4 zoned property containing the Northwest Residence residential facility; on the north and northwest by C-1 (Service/Office) zoned property containing a legal non-conforming single family home; on the east by Brooklyn Boulevard with the recently redeveloped Planned Unit Development commercial center on the opposite side of the street; and on the south by C-2 (Commerce) zoned property containing the Post Office and a gasoline service station/convenience store on the opposite side of the street. Convenience food restaurants such as the one proposed are special uses in the C-2 zoning district provided they do not abut R-1, R-2 or R-3 zoned property including abutment at a street line. No such abutment exists in this case. ACCESS/PARKING Access to this site is gained through two existing 25 ft. wide curb cuts, one located at the northerly portion of the site along Brooklyn Boulevard and the other on the southerly portion of the property on 69th Avenue North. These are both right in, right out only accesses due to the existing medians in Brooklyn Boulevard and 69th Avenue North (both county roads). The proposed building will be located on the westerly portion of the property and be oriented in a northwest to southeast direction. Access to the site generally will be from the north access with drive lanes going to pick up windows located on both sides of the building. Stacking will be such that up to 14 vehicles may be stacked on the site between the two drive up lanes. Circulation will be generally in a counter clockwise fashion around the site. The building is approximately 900 sq. ft. in area and will not contain any restaurant seats. This is primarily a drive thru type convenience food restaurant. An enclosed vestibule will be located on the south end of the building providing protection for walk up customers. Some convenience seating (non-service) may be located on the site as well. Generally parking requirements for a restaurant are based on seating and employees. In this case, with no seating available to the public, the parking requirement is based on the retail parking formula which is the highest for C-2 type land uses. This requires a minimum of 11 parking spaces for the first 2,000 sq. ft. of gross floor area. Therefore, 11 parking spaces are to be provided in this case. The 11 parking spaces, including one handicap space, are to be located along the 15 ft. green strip parallel with Brooklyn Bouelvard on the easterly side of the site. These parking spaces are served by a 24 ft. (two way) drive lane. A 9 ft. 6 in. concrete delineator separates the drive lane from the easterly drive up lane. Two separate order boards will be provided for the two drive up lanes. Green strips of at least 15 ft. are provided along Brooklyn Boulevard and 69th Avenue North with a generous landscape area to be provided adjacent to the right turn lane from Brooklyn Boulevard to 69th Avenue North. A 15 ft. separation is also provided between the northerly property line and the drive lane serving the drive up windows. A minimum of 5 ft. separation is provided between the westerly property line and the westerly drive up window. A larger green strip landscape area is provided at the southwest corner of the site. GRADING/DRAINAGE/UTILITIES B612 curb and gutter will be provided around all parking and driving areas on the site. The drainage plan generally shows drainage being split on the lot with drainage being over land toward the two access drives. This drainage plan as well as all the plans have been submitted to the Public Works’ Director/City Engineer for review. The Public Works’ Director is on vacation at this time and will, in all likelihood, be unable to comment with respect to this plan prior to the Planning Commission’s meeting. It is doubtful whether the City Engineer would approve the drainage plan proposed. Any final approval and the issuance of building permits would be subject to an acceptable drainage and utility plan approval by the City Engineer. Sanitary sewer and water will be tied into mains within the 69th Avenue North right of way. The site is less than ½ acre in area and no formal Watershed Commission review and approval is required. Again, final approval by the City Engineer is required with respect to the applicant’s proposed drainage, grading and utility plans. LANDSCAPING/SCREENING The applicant has submitted a landscape plan in response to the landscape point system used to evaluate such plans. This .48 acre site requires a minimum of 80 landscape points. The applicant proposes to provide 83.5 landscape points for this site. Four shade trees including three Thornless Honey Locusts and one Norway Maple are proposed. The Locusts would be located along the Brooklyn Boulevard green strip and at the southeast corner of the site while the Maple would be located at the northwest corner of the property. Four Black Hills Spruce will be located in the southwest landscape area surrounding the proposed trash enclosure. Two Spring Snow Crab and a Canada Red Cherry are planned for the island delineator area between the parking and the easterly drive up lane. Shrubs such as Red Twig Dogwood, Gold Mound Spirea, and Golden Mock Orange are provided on the island delineator to the west of the westerly drive up lane and in the northerly green strip. The plans note the requirement for underground irrigation to be provided in all planting and grass areas. It should be noted that various existing trees were planted within the Brooklyn Boulevard right of way area and in a planting node at the southeast corner of the site consistent with the Streetscape Amenities Study provided for Brooklyn Boulevard. The landscaping provided by the applicant should compliment the already existing streetscaping that has been provided. The applicant proposes a 6 ft. high cedar screen fence along a portion of the westerly property line where the site abuts with the residential facility. No screening is required, however, it was recommended. Fencing and vegetation exists along the property line separating the sites. It is suggested that the cedar fence be extended to the north property to cut down potential headlight glare into the adjacent residential lot. BUILDING As mentioned previously, the building will contain two drive up windows on either side of the main portion of the building. The building itself is approximately 900 sq. ft. in area and contains an indoor vestibule for servicing walk up customers at the south end of the building. No seating will be provided within the building. The exterior will be primarily a white stucco with the lower portion being a black and white tile pattern. A canopy extends out over the two drive up windows supported by two columns of a rolled metal material painted red. A mirrored finish stainless steel fascia is provided around the building and the faces of the canopy. The building elevations show white and red LED plexi neon tubes extending out over the canopies and around the building fascia. Further evaluation of this treatment will be necessary to see if it meets the sign ordinance criteria for wall signs. It should be noted that in one of the pictures depicting the Checkers building that a number of checkered flags are flying from the roof of the building. The sign ordinance only allows one corporate flag to be displayed. The others are considered banners, pennants or an attention attracting device that can only be allowed through the issuance of an administrative permit, two times a year for up to ten days in duration. The flags will not be allowed to fly generally throughout the year. LIGHTING/TRASH The applicant has submitted a lighting plan showing photometrics and the location of three 30 ft. high light poles, one at the southeast portion of the lot, another at the easterly side of the site and the final light pole at the north end of the site. The foot candles shown do not exceed the standards outlined within the city’s ordinance. It should be noted that the light fixtures should be a shielded box type fixture directing light onto the site. No glare should emanate from, or be visible beyond the boundaries of the property. Of particular note is the foot candles along the westerly property line which do not to exceed the standards set forth in Section 35-712 of the city ordinances. The plan shows the location of a trash enclosure at the southwesterly portion of the site. It will be a concrete masonry unit, 14 ft. by 10 ft. with 11 courses of eight inch block with a four inch top. The exterior should be compatible with the exterior of the building. Also, a solid opaque gate is required. SPECIAL USE STANDARDS Convenience food restaurants are special uses in the C-2 zoning district and as such must meet the special use permit standards contained in Section 35-220 of the city ordinances (attached). These standards require that the proposed special use will promote and enhance the general public welfare and not be detrimental to or endanger the health and safety of the public. Not be injurious to the use and enjoyment of other property in the immediate neighborhood, nor substantially diminish or impair property values; not impede the normal and orderly development of surrounding properties; be designed so as to minimize traffic congestion on a public street; and conform with the applicable regulations of the district in which it is located. The applicant believes that their proposal will be compatible with these standards and offers written comments with respect to the standards for special use permits. They feel that their restaurant will promote and enhance the general public welfare by providing jobs to area residents as well as providing an alternative to the value based fast food consumer. They believe that the addition of the restaurant will increase the city’s tax base and may also help to increase the value of neighboring commercial parcels. They note that their concept is new to Minnesota and that this restaurant will be the first of ten such restaurants in the Minneapolis area to be developed. They point out that the development of this site will not impede the possible future improvements of the adjacent properties which are currently zoned C-1 and C-2. They add that the two curb cuts servicing the site will allow customers multiple ingress/egress options that will minimize congestion. The double drive thru will allow quicker service and finally the parking lot, which has 11 parking spaces will also help to minimize traffic congestion. Finally they point out that their special use permit conforms to the applicable district regulations. As mentioned previously, it is recommended that the 6 ft. high cedar fence be extended to the north property. This can be considered appropriate given the Standards for Special Use Permits. In general, the staff would concur with the above comments and we believe that the proposal can be considered consistent with the standards for special use permits contained in the city’s zoning ordinance. A public hearing has been scheduled with respect to this special use permit and notices have been sent to surrounding property owners. RECOMMENDATION We believe the plans are generally in order and approval is recommended subject to at least the following conditions. The building plans are subject to review and approval by the Building Official with respect to applicable codes prior to the issuance of permits. Grading, drainage, utility and erosion control plans are subject to review and approval by the City Engineer prior to the issuance of permits. A site performance agreement and supporting financial guarantee in an amount to be determined based on cost estimates shall be submitted prior to the issuance of permits to assure the completion of site improvements. Any outside trash disposal facilities and rooftop or on ground mechanical equipment shall be appropriately screened from view. An underground irrigation system shall be installed in all landscape areas to facilitate site maintenance. Plan approval is exclusive of all signery, which is subject to Chapter 34 of the City Ordinances. B-612 curb and gutter shall be provided around all parking and driving areas. The applicant shall submit an as built survey of the property, improvements and utility service lines prior to the release of the performance guarantee. All work performed and materials used for construction of utilities shall conform to the City of Brooklyn Center current Standard Specifications and Details. This special use permit is granted for the convenience food restaurant proposal as indicated in this application. Any expansion or alteration of the use not comprehended by the zoning ordinance or these plans shall require an amendment to the special use permit. This special use permit is subject to all applicable codes, ordinances and regulations. Any violation thereof shall be grounds for revocation. Appropriate erosion and sediment control devices shall be provided on site during construction as approved by the City Engineering Department. The plans should be modified prior to the issuance of building permits to extend the 6 ft. high cedar fence to the north property line. 8-11-05 Page 5