Ruben Rodela, GWA Architecture, Inc.

A request for a use permit for a drive-through restaurant on a 1.2-acre parcel within Cottonflower Marketplace commercial center, located at the southwest corner of Yuma Road and Cotton Lane (proposed Loop 303). The Cottonflower Marketplace commercial center is zoned Planned Area Development with a C-2 General Commercial designation within the Cottonflower Planned Area Development (PAD).

1. Conduct a public hearing to consider a request for a Use Permit for a convenience use (drive-through restaurant) within five hundred (500) feet of a residential zoning district, on an approximately 1.2-acre parcel located at the southwest corner of Yuma Road and Cotton Lane (proposed Loop 303) zoned Planned Area Development (PAD).
2. Recommend conditional approval of the use permit request for a convenience use for a drive-through restaurant within five hundred (500) feet of a residential zoning district, on a 1.2-acre parcel within Cottonflower Marketplace, located at the southwest corner of Yuma Road and Cotton Lane (proposed Loop 303) described in the Site Plan for Panda Express on Cottonflower Marketplace Lot 4 (the “Property”), subject to stipulations. (Ann Dolmage, Principal Planner)

The approval of the Use Permit is subject to the following conditions and stipulations:

1. The development of the Property shall be in substantial conformance with the Site Plan for Panda Express on Cottonflower Marketplace Lot 4 (the “Site Plan”) attached hereto, the Building Elevations attached hereto, and with all other approved Site Plan submittal documents, none of which have received final approval. An amendment to the use permit shall be required if any deviation from the attached Site Plan is requested.

2. The development of the Property shall comply with the Cottonflower Marketplace Design Guidelines that were approved for the center on June 16, 2008.

3. In no instance shall queued vehicles obstruct designated fire lanes or public streets. Any obstruction observed by city staff shall be immediately remediated by the owner/operator and the owner/operator shall prepare a traffic management plan to prevent future obstructions. The traffic management plan shall be submitted to the Fire Chief and Director of Engineering (or their respective designees) within thirty (30) days of city staff’s observation of the obstruction. Said plan shall require approval from the Fire Chief and Director of Engineering or their designees. Failure to submit a traffic management plan and implement said plan in a timely fashion may result in termination of this use permit. Repeated observations of obstructions to designated fire lanes and/or public streets may also result in termination of this use permit.

4. Permanent exterior ladders affixed to a building shall not be permitted on the Property.

5. Sound from drive-through-speakers shall be mitigated using volume control, sound attenuation walls, landscaping, or other measures acceptable to the Zoning Administrator or designee. Drive-through speakers located on the Property shall not be audible from any residentially zoned property. 

6. The development of the Property shall conform to the standards designated for Lighting Zone 2 as established in Article 10, Outdoor Lighting Standards, of the City of Goodyear Zoning Ordinance.

7. No signage is approved as part of this use permit. All signage proposed on the Property shall require a separate submittal and review.  The proposed signage shall comply with the comprehensive sign package approved for Cottonflower Marketplace as it may be amended.

8. Any future subdivision that includes the Property shall conform to the development standards as established in the C-2 (General Commercial) zoning district, including (but not limited to) building setbacks, minimum parking requirements, lot coverage, and landscaping.

Although a fiscal impact analysis has not been conducted on this specific project, all new development will have an ongoing fiscal impact on the city. The development is responsible for construction of infrastructure necessary to serve the site and will generate one-time revenue for the city through payment of permits, construction sales tax, and development impact fees. Longer term fiscal impacts include increased demands for municipal services, the costs of which may or may not be offset by increased property values/tax levies, city sales tax, state shared revenues and the increased demand for commercial and retail development. Any areas that will be maintained by the city are constructed by the developer and then conveyed to the city two years after construction.

The Property is located within the Cottonflower PAD. The PAD zoning was approved on October 12, 1999. Pursuant to the PAD, commercial uses are permitted on the Property.

The Property consists of an undeveloped 1.2-acre lot within the commercial center known as Cottonflower Marketplace. A master site plan for the full center, including design guidelines, was approved on June 16, 2008, under Case No. 07-600-00062. A comprehensive sign package was approved on December 15, 2008, under Case No. 08-630-00003. Off-site and most on-site improvements have been completed for this commercial center.

To expedite development requiring a use permit or special use permit, staff have implemented a process in which the use permit and site plan submittals are reviewed and completed concurrently. Prior to bringing a use permit or special use permit before Council, the site plan and supporting documents are approved pending Council’s approval of the Use Permit or Special Use Permit, as applicable. In this case, staff has approved, subject to Council’s approval of the requested Use Permit, the site plan submittal for the development of the Property, including (but not limited to) the site plan and building elevations, copies of which are attached hereto.

Current Policy:
Restaurants with drive-through lanes located within five hundred (500) feet of any residential zoning district are required to obtain use permit approval per Article 3-3-3-A-30 of the Goodyear Zoning Ordinance. A use permit requires review by the Planning and Zoning Commission and approval by the City Council following required public hearings. The process for the review of a use permit is set forth in Section 1-3-2 of the Goodyear Zoning Ordinance and in the City of Goodyear Administrative Process Manual. All drive-through restaurants, regardless of whether a use permit is required, must meet certain operational and design requirements related to drive-through queuing capacity, traffic and pedestrian circulation, screening, speaker volume, and canopy location, as set forth in Section 4-2-18 of the Goodyear Zoning Ordinance.

Details of the Request:
The Property Owner is requesting a use permit for a drive-through restaurant on a 1.2-acre lot within the Cottonflower PAD. As previously noted, the Property is designated for commercial uses and will be developed in accordance with the PAD’s design guidelines and city’s C-2 (General Commercial) zoning district. As required in the C-2 zoning district, a restaurant with drive-through lanes within five hundred (500) feet of a residential zoning district must obtain approval of a use permit prior to development.

The proposed use is a single-story Panda Express restaurant, approximately two-thousand seven hundred (2,700) square feet in size. While the facility will contain about nine-hundred fifty-two (952) square feet of indoor dining space, drive-through service will be a large focus of the business. Two drive-through lanes will be provided, each with its own menu board and speaker. The two lanes will merge into one lane in the space between the menu boards and the pickup window. Combined, the drive-through lanes will provide stacking room for sixteen (16) vehicles, including eleven (11) vehicles between the lane entrances and the menu boards, and five vehicles between the menu boards and window. The lane design meets all minimum requirements for queuing capacity, linear length, width, and turning radius as described in Article 4-2-18 of the Zoning Ordinance.

As shown on the building elevations submitted with the use permit, the design for the building will utilize the materials and colors approved for the Cottonflower Marketplace under Case No. 07-600-00062.

Forty-one (41) vehicle parking spaces will be provided on the Panda Express lot, which exceeds the minimum requirement for the use as described in Article 6-4-2 of the Zoning Ordinance. Four (4) bicycle spaces will be provided as well.

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) is planning an extension of Loop 303 from Van Buren Street to MC-85, to include interchange improvements at major intersections, including Yuma Road. Because the Project is in proximity to the proposed extension and Yuma Road interchange, the use permit application was forwarded to ADOT for their review. ADOT commented that the easternmost driveway from Yuma Road into Cottonflower Marketplace (a right-in/right-out driveway) will eventually need to be closed as part of the extension project. Only the westernmost driveway (a full-access driveway) for access to and from Yuma Road will remain within the Cottonflower Marketplace. Additionally, ADOT will construct new curb and sidewalk improvements along the Yuma Road frontage of Cottonflower Marketplace as part of the extension project. An exact timeline of the driveway closure and roadway improvements is not known at this time, although as of the writing of this report, the ADOT website indicates that work will start in 2025 and will take three years to complete. For informational purposes, the applicant has provided a “Future Condition Site Plan (with ADOT Improvements to Yuma Road)” that shows how proposed improvements to construct the future Loop 303 extension will impact the Panda Express project.

ADOT has noted in prior reviews for projects in Cottonflower Marketplace that the northernmost driveway from Cotton Lane into the center will be closed as a result of the Loop 303 extension project, leaving one driveway (at the southeast corner of the center) on this frontage as well. While ADOT did not specifically discuss Cotton Lane access in their comments for Panda Express, this access closure is mentioned in the traffic impact study that was prepared for the project, and ADOT has reviewed and approved this study. Furthermore, exhibits on the ADOT website show one driveway entrance remaining on the east side of the center upon completion of the Loop 303 project. Since this driveway will be connected to a one-way frontage road running alongside the freeway, it will be right-in/right-out only.

Section 1-3-2 (Use Permits) of the Zoning Ordinance requires that the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council determine that the proposed use meets the following findings prior to granting a Use Permit:

1. The Use Permit will not be materially detrimental to persons residing or working in the vicinity adjacent to the property, to the neighborhood, or to the public welfare.

Panda Express will be located in Cottonflower Marketplace, a commercial center adjacent to a single-family residential neighborhood. A stipulation is proposed that will prohibit drive-through speakers from being audible to nearby residential development. The Property is in the city’s Lighting Zone 2, which requires house-side shielding for all perimeter lighting. Traffic impacts have been reviewed and determined to be in conformance with the roadway capacity and improvements for this area, including future improvements related to ADOT’s Loop 303 extension project. The restaurant’s drive-through lanes and queue will be internalized to the Property, and a stipulation is proposed that prohibits queued vehicles from obstructing fire lanes or public streets and requires a traffic management plan should obstructions occur. Vehicular queuing space for has been provided in conformance with the applicable requirements in Article 4-2-18 of the Goodyear Zoning Ordinance.

2. The proposed use is reasonably compatible with uses permitted in the surrounding area.

The Property is located within a commercial center that currently contains two drive-through restaurants, a drive-through coffee shop, and a fitness center. Additional uses including a dental office, auto repair facility, and tire shop have obtained site plan approval and are in the permitting process but have not yet started construction. The Property is also in proximity to other commercial centers along Yuma Road and Cotton Lane, including Canyon Trails Towne Center at the northeast corner of Yuma and Cotton, and Sarival Marketplace at the northwest corner of Yuma and Sarival. Quik-Trip has obtained use permit and site plan approval to construct a convenience store on the northwest corner of Yuma and Cotton, across the street from the Property.

The nearest residential development to the proposed restaurant is the Cottonflower neighborhood to the west, with approximately two-hundred eighty (280) feet of separation between the speaker box in the outer drive-through lane and the nearest residence, and approximately two-hundred fifty (250) feet of separation between the food pickup window and that same residence. Given these separation distances, the existence of a six (6) to eight (8)-foot high perimeter wall around the residential neighborhood, and the fact that Cottonflower Marketplace cannot be directly accessed from the residential neighborhood, it is not expected that this project will create noise, light, traffic, or other impacts for nearby residents. Stipulations are proposed requiring the project to adhere to outdoor lighting standards in the Zoning Ordinance and to ensure that speaker noise is not audible to surrounding residences.

Section 4-2-2 (Convenience Uses) of the Zoning Ordinance provides the following additional evaluation criteria for convenience uses regarding their potential impact on traffic congestion, the neighborhood in general, and their appropriateness for the site:

1. Adequacy of the parcel size and configuration to provide for proper access and internal circulation.

The 1.2-acre parcel is of sufficient size and configuration to accommodate the proposed restaurant with drive-through. The proposed access and internal traffic circulation pattern have been designed to be consistent with the overall master site plan. Queuing space for the drive-through meets applicable city requirements and can be accommodated onsite. While the drive-through is not expected to create adverse impacts to public streets or adjacent land uses, a stipulation is proposed that outlines a course of remedial action in the event public streets or fire lanes are obstructed.

2. Compatibility of the proposed hours of operation with adjacent residential areas.

The proposed hours of operation for this use are 10:00AM to 10:00PM, seven days a week. The proposed use will be located within an established commercial center, which contains existing businesses with similar hours. Staff does not recommend any restrictions on hours of operation for this use.

3. Required traffic and access mitigation measures, if any.

The proposed project does not require additional right of way, off-site traffic mitigation measures, or restriction of traffic movements through signs or other measures. While ADOT does intend to close one driveway into the center on Yuma Road and complete other street improvements as part of the Loop 303 extension project described above, these activities were programmed by ADOT before this Use Permit application was submitted and will occur regardless of whether the application is approved or whether the restaurant is built. The center allows for shared vehicle and pedestrian access across all access drives within the center via its Declaration of Commercial Covenants, Conditions, Restrictions and Easements.

4. Other concerns which may place the advisability of the proposed convenience use in question.

There are no other concerns affecting the advisability of the proposed convenience use.

Fire Department:
Emergency response times and distances are provided below:

Nearest Goodyear Fire Station	Shortest path		Longest path			2nd nearest Fire Station	Shortest path		Longest path
	Mins	Miles	Mins	Miles			Mins	Miles	Mins	Miles
#184	3.03	1.52	3.03	1.52		#188	3.04	1.52	3.04	1.52

Public Participation:
A Citizen Review meeting was held on March 20, 2024. In accordance with the city’s Citizen Review Ordinance, notices were sent to all property owners within five hundred (500) feet of the Property, including the Cottonflower HOA and residents, to invite them to attend. Additionally, a sign was posted on the Property to announce the date and time of the meeting. Aside from City staff and the applicant, the meeting was unattended.

Notices for the public hearings before the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council included the following: a notice mailed to surrounding property owners; a sign posted on the property; and a legal notice published in the Arizona Republic, Southwest Edition. To date, staff has received no inquiries on the project.

Staff Findings:
Staff finds that the proposed Use Permit for a drive-through restaurant on the Property meets the Zoning Ordinance requirements for drive-through uses, will not be materially detrimental to adjacent properties, and will be compatible with the surrounding area, subject to the conditions and stipulations set forth above. Staff is recommending approval of the Use Permit subject to the conditions and stipulations set forth above.