06-09-2016 Planning Commission Minutes

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MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION JUNE 9, 2016 Chris Kwapick, 109 Rosewood Drive, stated he put together the petition that was submitted this evening. He explained that he is worried the drive- thru will have a negative impact on neighborhood with the noise, lights, the flimsy fence between the parking lot and his yard, litter, and loitering. He stated that the mall property owner does not take great care of the property, and there has been a pile of garbage in the corner for the last three years. He noted that none of the neighbors he talked to was even mildly interested in having this drive-thru. Jim Lacasse, 90 Iona Lane, stated that he additional concerns about odor coming from the restaurant. He explained that in the original plan for the site, the 25 foot buffer zone was supposed to remain natural. He noted that the pine trees that were planted were not maintained so scrub brush has taken over. He stated there is already a lot of pedestrian and car traffic going by the Valvoline building, and this drive-thru would create more vehicle traffic. Anwar Bhimani, owner of the Valvoline Oil Change, stated that he is concerned about the lack of room on the north side of his building, and his delivery trucks park there. He explained that he often has cars sitting in the que lanes for 30 minutes or more, and at times they will want to get out of line and they would not be able to back up if the drive-thru traffic was there. He noted that cars could get blocked in his que lanes or in the restaurant drive-thru lane. He stated that he is worried if people see too many cars driving around his business, or they have a bad experience getting to his building, the customers will not come back. He explained that he is willing to work with the landlord to try to make it work, and that Valvoline closes at 6:OOpm, so there would be no traffic problem in the evenings. Mr. Anderson stated that he is open to other ways to make this proposal work. He stated that he has tried hard to only keep good tenants and get rid of problem businesses in order to be a good neighbor. He noted that the building is only 50 percent occupied which makes it hard to do improvements, but work will be done if Little Caesar's moves in. He stated that he wants to work with the neighbors on landscaping and screening. Mr. Anderson stated he is willing to table his request tonight and address as many of the concerns as possible, and come back at the July meeting. He stated that Little Caesar's will go to Roseville if they cannot have a drive-thru at this location. Mr. Lacasse requested that the City notify the neighbors about the next meeting dates and include any new plans from the applicant. -5-