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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Commission Minutes 12-03-2008Approved Minutes City of Plymouth Planning Commission Meeting December 3, 2008 MEMBERS PRESENT: Acting Chair James Davis, Commissioners Erik Aamoth, Karl Neset, Scott Nelson and Gordon Petrash MEMBERS ABSENT: Commissioner Terry Jaffoni STAFF PRESENT: Planning Manager Barbara Senness, Senior Planner Shawn Drill and Office Support Specialist Laurie Lokken 1. CALL TO ORDER - 7:00 P.M. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3. PUBLIC FORUM 4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Aamoth, to approve the December 3, 2008 Planning Commission Agenda. Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION approved. 5. CONSENT AGENDA A. APPROVAL OF THE NOVEMBER 19, 2008 PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES MOTION by Commissioner Aamoth, seconded by Commissioner Petrash, to approve the November 19, 2008 Planning Commission Minutes. Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION approved. B. HOLLY HAMILTON (2006097) MOTION by Commissioner Aamoth, seconded by Commissioner Petrash, to approve the request by Holly Hamilton for an extension to the variance approvals for redevelopment of a non -conforming lot, impervious surface coverage and front setback for property located at 10620 30th Avenue North. Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION approved. C. WAYNE JESKE ASSOCIATES, INC. (2008108) MOTION by Commissioner Aamoth, seconded by Commissioner Petrash, to approve the request by Wayne Jeske Associates, Inc. for a site plan amendment for a parking lot expansion and variance for a second freestanding sign at West Lutheran High School located at 3350 Harbor Lane North. Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION approved. Approved Planning Commission Minutes December 3, 2008 Page 2 6. PUBLIC HEARING A. MCDONALD'S USA, LLC. (2008106) Acting Chair Davis introduced the request by McDonald's USA, LLC for a planned unit development amendment to allow changes to their parking lot to accommodate a second order station for drive-through service for the property located at 2705 Annapolis Circle North. Senior Planner Drill gave an overview of the staff report. Commissioner Petrash asked if there would be curbs along the drive-through lane and if so, where the curbs would be located. Senior Planner Drill said that there would not be any curbs, other than an island for the second order station with curbing around it. He said that the applicant would also be removing the existing island in the parking lot and putting in two new islands with the parking lot revisions. Commissioner Petrash asked what would cause cars coming in for the drive-through to stay on the right side versus going straight through the parking lot to the drive through. Senior Planner Drill said that drive-through customers would want to get in where the cars are stacked and if there were no cars at all, they could go through the parking lot. Commissioner Petrash asked if there is signage that tells drive-through customers to go to the right or if it is just on the pavement. Senior Planner Drill said that there would be pavement markings and deferred to the applicant whether they would be putting up small directional signage. He said that the applicant is allowed to do that to assist customers in locating the drive-through lane. Planning Manager Senness added that the problem of drive-through stacking in the public street became a more serious problem when the site to the east was developed. She said that east retail commercial development has noon -time traffic as well. She said that City staff has been working with McDonalds for quite some time to come up with a solution. Acting Chair Davis introduced the applicant, James Hileman, representing McDonald's USA, LLC. Mr. Hileman said that this was an opportunity to make good improvements to provide better, faster and safer customer service. He said that it would also eliminate the stacking problem. He said that it would provide significantly more cars on site with the extended length of the drive-through lane and the split end combination of two drive- through lanes at the order points, which provides faster service to get two orders to the preparation line and separates the drive-through traffic from the walk-in customers. He said that the walk-in customers currently have to cross the drive-through lane and stacking Approved Planning Commission Minutes December 3, 2008 Page 3 to get into the building. He said that he would give the recommendation to the site planner to add drive-through signage. Commissioner Nelson asked about the construction time and how traffic and parking would be dealt with during the change over. Mr. Hileman said that it's not a real high - impact process, but that they are getting in to where the weather may come into the picture. He said that in the summer time, they send a person out on the parking lot to take orders with a headset to try to keep the traffic moving. He said that accommodation of the work would include coning off the areas in question. He said that they would be removing the center curb and restriping the lot, which is winter sensitive. He said that they would certainly prefer to do construction during the spring, but for the purpose of expediting what they see to be a positive direction on site utilization, they would try to do it this year. Mr. Hileman added that he would estimate the time frame for the work that they are trying to accomplish would be in the neighborhood of three weeks duration. Commissioner Aamoth asked if they would be able to accommodate the customers with 49 stalls and if that would be sufficient. Mr. Hileman said that they have certain screens that they go through and that based on their volume of business, they meet the seating and minimum parking screens. He said that they are comfortable that these changes won't impact their business profitability. Mr. Hileman confirmed for Commissioner Petrash that the area between the two parking areas allows customers to drive straight through to go into the drive-through lanes. Commissioner Petrash asked if they would consider putting up some kind of barrier so that they can't do that. Mr. Hileman said that Planning staff required a "no right turn" sign to restrict people from trying to go through to the drive-through lanes. Commissioner Petrash asked if this was essentially a one-way drive. Mr. Hileman said that cars can go two ways in and out of the 90 degree parking lot but can only go north around the perimeter of the parking lot where the drive-through is. Acting Chair Davis opened and closed the public hearing as there was no one present to speak on the item. Acting Chair Davis said that he thought this was a good idea because he had seen the McDonalds in Wayzata, which has this loop, and customers can park their cars and not get run over by someone rushing to the drive-through. He said that he would vote in favor of this request. MOTION by Commissioner Nelson, seconded by Commissioner Petrash, to approve the request by McDonald's USA, LLC for a planned unit development amendment to allow changes to their parking lot to accommodate a second order station for drive-through service for the property located at 2705 Annapolis Circle North. Roll Call Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION approved unanimously. Approved Planning Commission Minutes December 3, 2008 Page 4 7. NEW BUSINESS A. CITY OF PLYMOUTH Acting Chair Davis announced that the December 17, 2008 Planning Commission meeting could be canceled. MOTION by Acting Chair Davis to approve the cancellation of the December 17, 2008 Planning Commission meeting. Vote. 5 Ayes. MOTION approved. 8. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Acting Chair Davis, without objection, to adjourn the meeting at 7:25 p.m.