06/12/2006 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Millers Crossroads Shopping Center page 5 • site. Additional landscaping would be needed to comply with the requirement for 80% opacity at time of planting. • CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT FOR DRIVE THROUGH AND OUTDOOR SEATING Drive Through: The original approval of this site in 2003 included one driveway from Lakota Trail to the parking lot in front (north) of the building. The current proposal includes a second driveway to create a drive through route to a drive up window for the coffee shop. This requires some alterations of the site. The location of the proposed new driveway is of some concern. It is close to the intersection of Ojibway Path and Lakota Trail. The original driveway for the site also is very close to this intersection. The new driveway creates an additional conflict point and adds numerous turning movements in the immediate vicinity of the intersection. The 2003 review of the Millers Crossroads project pointed out the offset of the commercial driveway and the street intersection and labeled it an issue of concern. The concern for conflicts was somewhat softened because the driveway was about 150 feet from the Birch St. access point, and because that access was right in/out only. The offset was "not a desirable situation, but it may be the best possible given the site constraints." Creating yet another driveway offset exacerbates the situation. The City Council expressed concern at the time that future uses may want to have a drive through. Because there was only one driveway access, it was considered highly unlikely. The stormwater system originally was designed for the upper pond to discharge into the next one to the south, then to the next one, and so on. The main driveway runs between the first and second ponds. There is a strip of land separating the second and third ponds. The newly proposed drive through lane is to be built over this strip of land. This will require the construction of a retaining wall. The drive through would cross the stormwater pond outlot, so an access easement would be needed to grant access to the commercial site's across the pond outlot. (This outlot was platted as Outlot C of Millers Crossroads, but revised to be Outlot G, Millers Crossroads 3rd Addition.) Though the outlot is not yet owned by the City, it will be deeded to the City, as is often the case with ponding areas. It is important that the City's stormwater management activities and responsibilities are not negatively affected by the access drive. It also is important that the commercial property owner is responsible for maintaining, the roadway. The maintenance of the road would need to be addressed through an agreement with the commercial property owner. Outdoor Seating: The coffee shop is to have an outdoor seating area on the south side of the building. It is approximately 580 sf . The area is screened with landscaping.