PUBLIC HEARING: Consider a Conditional Use Permit, Site Plan, and Variance for a Drive-Through Lane in the Front Yard in the COR-2b Zoning District for Chipotle at 14701 Armstrong Blvd NW

Capital Real Estate, Inc. (the "Applicant") has submitted a Land Use Application for the development of a 1.58-acre lot described as Lot 3, Block 1, Bunker Lake Crossing, which will be addressed as 14701 Armstrong Blvd NW (the "Subject Property"). The project will consist of a 2,330 square foot commercial building for Chipotle, 46 parking stalls, a 400 square foot outdoor dining patio adjacent to the west side of the building, and a drive-through lane that wraps around the west and south sides of the building. To accommodate the drive-through lane in the COR-2b zoning district, the Applicant is seeking a Conditional Use Permit, which by default includes a formal Site Plan Review, as required for all development in the COR. Additionally, due to the location of the drive-through lane in the front yard of the Subject Property, the Applicant is seeking a Variance to Drive-Through Placement.

Staff attempted to notify property owners within 350 feet of the Subject Property, as reflected in the Anoka County Property Records, of the request and the Public Hearing. A notice of the Public Hearing will be published in the Anoka County Union Herald, the City's official newspaper. A "proposed development" sign was placed on the property.

Subject Property
The Subject Property is the southernmost lot within the Bunker Lake Crossing development, measuring approximately 1.58 acres in area. The Subject Property is bounded by Armstrong Boulevard to the west, Sunwood Drive to the south, the Waterfront Village residential development and wetland to the east, and a vacant commercial lot to the north. The Subject Property is zoned COR-2b, Commercial Subdistrict, which is the same zoning designation of other parcels on the west side of the COR, including Aldi, Take 5, and Home2 Suites. As is the case with all non-park properties in the COR, the Subject Property is guided Mixed Use in the City's 2040 Comprehensive Plan.

Site Plan
The proposed building has a footprint of 2,330 square feet, and is rectangular-shaped with the longer end stretching west-to-east, paralleling Sunwood Drive. Due to the lot dimensions, drive-through placement, and location of existing utilities, the building is set back 76.8 feet from the west (front) property line and 34 feet from the south (street side) property line. The COR Design Framework typically requires a front yard build-to line of 30 feet along arterial streets, with at least 40 percent of the front facade within the build-to area. However, there is a footnote stating that "the City may approve up to a 60-foot setback if it finds that topography or other factors require that a building be set back further to achieve acceptable grades or buffer between the street, the site entrance and the building." With the proposed setback of 34 feet from Sunwood Drive's right-of-way, 100 percent of the building facade is within the 60-foot build-to area along Sunwood Drive, which satisfies the 40 percent requirement as stated in the COR Framework. To further reinforce the physical build-to line, the Applicant is proposing a 3.5-foot-tall ornamental  fence along the length of the building area, providing a buffer between the drive-through lane and the trail along Armstrong Boulevard and Sunwood Drive. The proposed development has 3.39 percent building coverage and 56.01 percent hard surfacing coverage (including the parking lot, drive-through lane, and sidewalks) on the lot, resulting in 59.4 percent impervious surfacing coverage on the lot. This impervious surfacing percentage is lower than typical developments in the COR, aligning more similarly to a suburban development pattern, due to the unique dimensions and location of the lot, as well as the proximity of wetlands to the east and north of the building site. 

The building is designed to have the main entrance at the northwest corner, facing the parking lot. A sidewalk will connect the front entrance to the parking lot and to Armstrong Boulevard directly west of the entrance, providing multi-modal access to the building. The Applicant is also proposing to install a bike rack at the northeast corner of the building for folks looking to bike to the site. Vehicular access to the site will come from two driveways at the east end of the site, tying into a private access road to serve the entire Bunker Lake Crossing development. This access road will allow vehicles to access Chipotle from two directions: a right-in-only access along northbound Armstrong Boulevard, and a full access along the roundabout at Sunwood Drive and Ramsey Parkway. Traffic exiting Chipotle will have to turn right (southeast) onto the full access road and exit the development via the roundabout. Once Lot 2 develops north of Chipotle, there will be a secondary driveway parallel to Armstrong Boulevard connecting the two parking lots for improved site circulation. The drive-through lane is oriented counter-clockwise around the building to allow at least 5 stacking spaces for vehicles, as measured from the pick-up window along the south side of the building. It should be noted that the drive-through lane is for pickup orders only, using their "Chipotlane" model that allows customers to place orders in their mobile app and pick them up at the drive-through window. No orders will be placed in the drive-through lane.  There is no menu board or speaker box to allow for customers to place orders. This drive-through lane includes a bypass lane for most of its length, as is required by Section 106-525(6) of Ramsey City Code, with a taper down to one lane beyond the pick-up window to allow for a safer pedestrian crossing with traffic exiting the drive-through lane. More information on the Variance for the drive-through placement can be found below.

Minimum parking requirements for the building are one stall per three seats of design capacity, as stated in Section 106-560 of Ramsey City Code. Maximum parking requirements shall not exceed 20 percent of the required minimum, without submission of a parking justification report. The furniture, fixture, & equipment (FF&E) plan sheet submitted by the Applicant shows 40 seats in the dining room and customer areas, plus 20 seats on the outdoor patio, resulting in a minimum parking requirement of 20 parking stalls and a maximum of 24 parking stalls. The Applicant is supplying 46 parking stalls, 2 of which are ADA accessible, similar to their other locations in the north metro and across the region. Staff is supportive of this over-supply of parking because it will limit the number of vehicles attempting to park along the private access road and/or along Armstrong Boulevard, both of which do not allow on-street parking.

Architecture and Building Materials
The building will be 19 feet tall, as measured from the finished grade to the top of the parapet cap. An accent tower above the drive-through window will extend up to 20.67 feet (1 foot 8 inches taller than the parapet). The tower provide visual interest to the building's most visible areas while providing screening of the rooftop equipment. The building materials will consist of brick, EIFS, and architectural metal panels on all four sides of the building. Additionally, there will be large windows along the north and west sides of the building to highlight the dining area. The plans also show a service door along the east side of the building to provide access from the kitchen to the detached dumpster enclosure. This dumpster enclosure will be clad with block CMU to match the brick facade of the restaurant, and it will have metal trim and gates to provide visual screening. The east side of the building will have a service ladder to access the roof, and a co-location of utility services mounted to the wall. The ladder and service panel are designed to blend in with the building materials. The Applicant is also proposing to install bollards along the drive-through lane to insulate any potential impact between vehicles and the building; this is standard practice for drive-through restaurants.

Signage
The Applicant is proposing two wall signs, each with the "Chipotle" text and pepper logo. These signs will be located along the north and west walls, near the main entrance, to direct pedestrian traffic from the parking lot and trail along Armstrong Boulevard. Additionally, a freestanding pylon sign will be placed near the west side of the building, between the patio and the drive-through lane, to attract traffic from Armstrong Boulevard. Additionally, as noted in the Staff Report for Bunker Lake Crossing's Preliminary Plat as presented on May 22nd, a potential multi-tenant freestanding pylon sign could be placed at the northwest corner of the development to attract traffic along Bunker Lake Boulevard to the overall development with sign panels representing Taco Bell, Chipotle, and a future third tenant. Staff is working with the Applicant to properly locate all freestanding signage to avoid conflicts with easements and utilities. All signage has been reviewed in accordance with the newly-created Chapter 108 of Ramsey City Code. The Applicant is aware of the need for separate sign permits that are reviewed and approved administratively. 

Landscape Plan
Per the Staff Report from the Environmental Policy Board's (EPB) meeting on May 19th, the Landscape Plan indicates that the shared access will be lined with evergreen trees.  The greenspace parallel to both Armstrong Boulevard and Sunwood Drive will be lined with deciduous trees.  Internally, there will be a mixture of evergreen and deciduous shrubs primarily abutting the buildings, but also scattered in the parking lot islands and adjacent to the dumpster enclosures.  The proposed species and sizes are acceptable.  Ground cover will be established via a combination of sod and seeding.  Staff has requested that a five (5) foot strip of sod be included behind the curb. 

Lighting
Section 106-310 of City Code provides lighting regulations for all developments in the City. All photometric readings will measure less than 0.5 footcandles at the property line and will measure at least 1.0 footcandle throughout the parking lot in compliance with City Code.  All lighting must be downcast and shielded. Staff has reviewed the lighting plan and found that all photometric regulations are met.

Utilities
The site will be served by municipal water and sanitary sewer. The water main connection will come from a shared main near the southeast corner of the parking lot, adjacent to the driveway to the private access road. The sanitary sewer connection will come from a shared line east of the building, which then connects to a sewer main along Sunwood Drive and Ramsey Parkway.

Stormwater Management
The site's stormwater will be collected and directed to the large pond in Waterfront Park, roughly a quarter-mile east-southeast of the site. The Applicant has designed the parking lot and drive-through lane to drain into seven interconnected catch basins, which then feed into a storm sewer main at the northwest, southwest, and southeast corners of the site.

Variance
As noted above, the Applicant is proposing to construct a drive-through lane that wraps counter-clockwise around the Chipotle building. This results in a significant portion of the drive-through lane being located within the front yard of the property along Armstrong Boulevard and street side yard along Sunwood Drive. Section 106-625(5) of Ramsey City Code states that "drive-through lanes are not permitted in the front yard or within the front build-to line." The Applicant has stated the need for a Variance to this standard because of the lot dimensions and wetland constraints.

City Code Section 106-220 discusses the practical difficulties that are allowed to be used for justifying variances (below in italics). Among them, the Applicant has identified the following practical difficulties and associated justifications for the variance:

• That the property owner proposes to use the property in a reasonable manner not permitted by the zoning code. The Applicant requests a variance to allow a drive-through lane in the front yard to allow for maximum stacking space on the property, limiting the potential overflow traffic backing up into the private access road and/or the Sunwood Drive/Ramsey Parkway roundabout. Additionally, by placing the drive-through in the front yard, it allows for smoother traffic flow for vehicles exiting the site toward the roundabout. Without an approved Variance, the Applicant would need to shift the drive-through lane to the north side of the building, thus creating a sharper turning motion for drivers and limiting the utilization of the property's buildable area.
• The plight of the landowner is due to circumstances unique to the property not created by the landowner. At the time of writing this case, the Subject Property is City-owned. It should be noted that the Centra Homes team, which platted and is currently developing the Waterfront Village neighborhood east of the Subject Property, had to design their Preliminary Plat to account for the wetland as it abuts the west edge of their development. Centra Homes platted the Subject Property as Outlot D, Waterfront Village, in coordination with the City of Ramsey to facilitate commercial development by another entity in the future. Additionally, a City infrastructure project placed a 4-foot-diameter storm sewer pipe along the west and south sides of the Bunker Lake Crossing lot, thus causing the need for a 32-foot-wide drainage and utility easement along Armstrong Boulevard and a 30-foot-wide drainage and utility easement along Sunwood Drive. This forces the building placement to be farther away from both streets, as only landscaping, driveways, parking lots, and fences are allowed within those easements. Capital Real Estate, the entity purchasing Outlot D for the Bunker Lake Crossing development, is developing the Subject Property for Chipotle. In working with the folks at both Centra Homes and Capital Real Estate, Staff have attempted to find a solution that allows for commercial development oriented along Armstrong Boulevard that lessens or eliminates impact to the existing wetland. This includes using the easement area for a drive-through lane, installing a wrought-iron-style fence to screen the drive-through lane from the adjacent streets, and shifting the building farther away from the streets to avoid easement conflicts. By looping the drive-through lane around the building, the Applicant has achieved a more efficient site plan that avoids the wetland area and maximizes the utilization of the utility area while framing the western entrance to the COR with the building and fence along Sunwood Drive.
• The variance, if granted, will not alter the essential character of the locality. As noted previously, the site plan has a layout and impervious surfacing percentage that is more typical of a suburban commercial development than that of a downtown mixed-use area. It should be noted that the COR-2b zoning district was created to focus on "a contemporary and innovative strategy that responds to overall objectives for the COR" while accommodating more auto-oriented suburban land uses. The proposed site plan allows for a blend of urban and suburban design elements to foster economic development by bringing another highly-requested restaurant to Ramsey while maintaining multi-modal connectivity, an urban streetscape, and a higher design standard.

Alternatives

1. Approve the Variance and recommend approval of the Conditional Use Permit and Site Plan as presented.
2. Approve the Variance and recommend approval of the Conditional Use Permit and Site Plan with modifications, based on discussion and supporting findings of fact.
3. Deny the Variance and recommend denial of the Conditional Use Permit and Site Plan, based on supporting findings of fact.

All costs associated with this request are the Applicant's responsibility.

Staff recommends approval of the Conditional Use Permit, Site Plan, and Variance.

2 motions:

Motion to adopt Resolution #25-149, Granting a Variance for a Drive-Through Lane in the Front Yard for Chipotle at 14701 Armstrong Blvd NW.

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Motion to recommend the City Council adopt Resolution #25-148, Approving a Conditional Use Permit for a Drive-Through Lane and a Site Plan Review for Chipotle at 14701 Armstrong Blvd NW.