DATE: November 21, 2000
TO: Planning Commission
FROM: Teri Camery, Planner
Community Development Department
FILE NO.: USE2000-00070- Conditional Use
PROPOSAL: A conditional use permit for a 8-foot by 20-foot trailer used for drive-thru coffee sales.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Applicant: HERITAGE COFFEE CO/William H. Dore
Property Owner: Pete Thiboteau
Property Address: 5234 Glacier Highway Juneau, AK 99801
Legal Description: Lot 1, Meyer
Parcel Code Number: 5-B12-0-100-005-1
Site Size: 52,431 Square Feet
Zoning: I - Industrial
Utilities: CBJ Water & Sewer
Access: Glacier Highway and Short Street
Existing Land Use: Lumber storage and retail liquor sales
Surrounding Land Use: North - Industrial, retail
South - Industrial, retail
East - D-18 Residential
West - Industrial, vacant lot
Planning Commission
File No.: USE2000-00070
November 20, 2000
Page 2 of 5
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The applicant requests a Conditional Use permit for development of a 160 square foot drive-through, self-contained espresso trailer. The proposed trailer will be on wheels on the eastern edge of the lot facing Glacier Highway. The trailer will have two service windows providing drive-through customer service on both sides of the eight-foot by twenty-foot structure. The development includes an accessible ramp. Two-way customer traffic will enter and exit the site from both Glacier Highway and Short Street. The current structure is temporary, however if the venture is successful the applicant intends to develop a permanent foundation.
BACKGROUND
The applicant is renting a 60 foot by 160 foot portion of this large lot for the coffee cart. The rest of the lot contains the Liquor Barrel store and wood storage. There are no direct sales of wood from this lot.
ANALYSIS
The CBJ Land Use Code 49.25.300 Table of Permissible Uses Section 8.200 allows "drive-in" restaurants in Industrial Zoning Districts with a Conditional Use Permit.
Traffic Analysis
The applicant anticipates a customer base of 75-100 cars per day, with most of the volume emanating from the Costco area. Customers will enter and exit from the development on both sides of the lot, Short Street and Glacier Highway. Customers will be served from windows on each side. The site plan provides for stacking of up to three vehicles in both directions. Due to the nature of the espresso business, long customer waiting times are not anticipated. Staff specifically analyzed the entrance from Glacier Highway and determined that an adequate radius has been provided for entry and exit from the development.
Parking
One employee parking space and one accessible parking space will be provided on the northern edge of the development against the Liquor Barrel retail building. Three employees will be hired, while only one employee will be working each shift. CBJ Code does not have established standards for parking at drive-through restaurants or drive-through coffee stands. Staff feels that one employee space and one accessible space is adequate for this development due to the quick-stop nature of the business and a single employee on-site at one time. If the development expands in the future and more employees are needed, the large lot has plenty of room for additional parking.
Planning Commission
File No.: USE2000-00070
November 20, 2000
Page 3 of 5
Exterior Lighting
The business will operate from 6 am to 5:30 pm daily. Lighting will consist of floodlights on the building.
Vegetative Cover
CBJ Land Use Code 49.50.300 establishes a minimum percent of live vegetative cover for the area of each development site according to zone. In the Industrial zone the requirement is five percent. The development area is currently bare, therefore staff recommends a condition requiring the applicant to submit a proposal for meeting this requirement.
FINDINGS
CBJ §49.15.330 (e)(1), Review of Director's Determinations, states that the Planning Commission shall review the director's report to consider:
2. Whether the proposed use is appropriate according to the Table of Permissible Uses;
3. Whether the development as proposed will comply with the other requirements of this chapter.
The commission shall adopt the director's determination on the three items above unless it finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the director's determination was in error, and states its reasoning for each finding with particularity.
CBJ §49.15.330 (f), Commission Determinations, states that even if the commission adopts the director's determination, it may nonetheless deny or condition the permit if it concludes, based upon its own independent review of the information submitted at the public hearing, that the development will more probably than not:
2. Substantially decrease the value of or be out of harmony with property in the neighboring area; or,
3. Not be in general conformity with the comprehensive plan, thoroughfare plan, or other officially adopted plans.
Planning Commission
File No.: USE2000-00070
November 20, 2000
Page 4 of 5
Per CBJ §49.15.330 (e)(1)(A thru C), Review of Director's Determinations, the director makes the following findings on the proposed development:
Yes. We find the application contains the information necessary to conduct a full review of the proposed operations. The application submittal by the applicant, including the appropriate fees, substantially conforms to the requirements of CBJ Code Chapters 49.15.
2. Is the proposed use appropriate according to the Table of Permissible Uses?
Yes. The proposed use is appropriate according to the Table of Permissible Uses Section 8.200, which allows drive-through restaurant service in an industrial zone with a Conditional Use permit.
3. Will the proposed development comply with the other requirements of this chapter?
Yes. The proposed development complies with the other requirements of this chapter.
Friday, November 17, 2000. A public notice sign was posted on the site at least 14 days prior to the meeting and notice was mailed to owners of record of all property within 500 feet of the subject property. The first abutters notice was mailed on Friday morning, November 17, 2000. Later that day staff discovered an error in our parcel code system that identified the rear parcel instead of the forward parcel on the vicinity map attached to the abutters notice. A corrected notice was subsequently mailed to abutters that same afternoon, Friday, November 20, 2000.
4. Will the proposed development materially endanger the public health or safety?
No. The development will not materially endanger the public health or safety.
Yes. The proposed development is in general conformity with the land use plan, thoroughfare plan, and other officially adopted plans.
RECOMMENDATION
We recommend that the Planning Commission adopt the director's analysis and findings and grant the requested Conditional Use permit for development of an eight-foot by twenty-foot coffee trailer at 5234 Glacier Highway with the following condition:
The applicant shall submit a proposal for meeting the five percent vegetative cover requirement in the development area.