PL MINUTES 06182002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes June 18, 2002 Page 3 1 Chair Melsha indicated that the petitioner's site plan had a lot of parking on the north 2 side of the lot, which would have customers walking through the drive-through path. It 3 was also stated that the west-end parking was for employees. 4 5 Commissioner Thomas confirmed that 33% of Culvers' business comes from the drive- 6 through business. He continued that all of that business would exit via Silver Lake Road. 7 8 Chair Melsha stated that another reason that he was interested in moving the building 9 was that they only had 4.25 feet that the building would need to be moved in order for 10 them not to need the rear yard variance. 11 12 Sparks responded that the situation that exists with the need for the variance is that it 13 does not serve the purpose in the best possible way for neither the restaurant, nor the 14 City. However, he stated that there exist a number of ways that they could eliminate the 15 need for the rear yard variance, although it was his hope that the Commission would 16 realize that the way that the petitioner's site plan positioned the building was the best 17 way. 18 19 McGuire stated that the DSU site plan would require the food service semi-truck to 20 utilize a drive-through parking space. 16 Commissioner Steeves clarified that their was one-way traffic coming out of the drive- 23 through, and that incoming traffic from the north enters and turns left immediately. 24 25 Commissioner Thomas stated that one of the principals that DSU was attempting to 26 achieve with their plan was to minimize the parking in the front of the building. He 27 continued that he would still contend that it would make more sense to have the drive- 28 through traffic both entering and exiting via Silver Lake Road. 29 30 McGuire stated that Silver Lake Road is the primary source of access. He continued that, 31 according to their plan, there were no parking spaces along Silver Lake Road; DSU's site 32 plan has 12 twelve parking spaces along Silver Lake Road, which runs a lot of traffic 33 right back into the intersection. 34 35 Commissioner Steeves asked about the retaining wall between the residential district and 36 the discussed property and what type of grading, if any, existed there. Sparks responded 37 that the graded differential was at least ten feet. 38 39 Mc Guire continued that the speaker for the drive-through is designed to eliminate the 40 need for shouting out orders. 41 42 Commissioner Steeves asked about the stairway leading up to the roof, in terms of 43 vandalism, and aesthetics. McGuire stated that he agreed with Commissioner Steeves' concerns regarding the ladder,but stated that it was a State Law requirement in 5 Minnesota. 46 47 Sparks added that they placed the ladder at the least visible point of the building at their 48 Vadnais Heights location.