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City of Arden Hills City Council Work Session for March 16, 2015 P:\Planning\Planning Cases\2015\PC 15-005 - Caribou Coffee - Concept Review\Memos_Reports_15-005 Page 2 of 3 Overview of Request Caribou Coffee Company is proposing to expand their business to include a customer drive-thru lane and pickup window. The creation of the drive-thru will involve the reconfiguration of the parking lot in order to accommodate the drive-thru lane and the stacking of vehicles in this area. During the parking lot reconfiguration eleven (11) parking spaces would be eliminated from the site to accommodate the stacking of approximately nine (9) vehicles. In addition to the typical drive-thru window location on the outside façade of the building the plan also includes the installation of a menu board and speaker for placing customer orders. As depicted on the site plan a new landscaping island would be installed along with additional landscaping within former parking stall areas not utilized by the driving lane. A new sidewalk connection and curbing would be provided along the southern portion of the drive-thru area. Discussion The property at 3673 Lexington Avenue North is located in the B-3 Service Business District. The purpose of this district among other things is to serve the community and motorist with a broad range of service and goods; ensure acceptable traffic operations; keep retail services compact, convenient and close to arterial streets; and promote flexibility in land uses and development standards. Restaurants including those with drive-thru windows are permitted as principal uses in the district. However, special regulations for drive-thru windows in the B-3 District exist to ensure proper placement, design and use. In this district the Code requires a 1,320 foot separation between drive-thru businesses. Drive-thru operations that exist within 1,320 feet include Cub Foods Pharmacy, Walgreens Pharmacy, and Arby’s. The Zoning Code also has requirements to address required parking stalls and vehicle stacking requirements in the B-3 Service Business District. In this district the Code requires one (1) parking space for every 150 square feet of gross retail floor space. With approximately 70,000 square feet of retail space between Shannon Square Shoppes and Cub Foods, 467 parking spaces would be required. There are currently 510 parking spaces on site and if the applicant moves forward with the proposed drive-thru addition the number of stalls would be reduced to 499. The Shannon Square Shoppes retail strip center has a shared parking agreement with the Cub Foods to the north, and both properties are owned and managed by Inland Shannon Square, LLC. The plan as submitted by the applicant includes nine (9) vehicle stacking spaces, where the code requires fifteen (15). Where the proposal does not meet the Code requirements the City can negotiate the terms of the development through the PUD amendment process that will be required for this planning case.