Planning commission approves Huntington Bank site plan on Kent Road, grants seven variances

The Stow City Planning Commission approved a site plan, lot split and seven variances for a proposed 3,600-square-foot Huntington Bank branch at Acme Plaza on Kent Road by a 3-0 roll-call vote.

The approval covers application PC2024-047 and authorizes a lot split/consolidation and site plan for a new Huntington Bank building to be located between Wingstop and Goodyear at the Acme Plaza. Planning staff and the applicant described seven variance requests needed to fit the prototype bank into the existing urban parcel and to avoid existing on-site utilities.

Zach Cowan, planning staff, said the city’s dimensional standards require at least 40,000 square feet of lot area, 120 feet of lot frontage and a lot-depth rule tied to lot frontage; he identified which proposed parcels would need relief. ‘‘Parcel A would need a variance from the area — it would be just over 30,000 square feet,’’ Cowan said. He reported Parcel B would require a lot-width variance (the proposal shows 80 feet of frontage) and that one parcel would not require variances.

Brian Emerick, with Allegro Civil Engineers, said the development is a ‘‘prototypical Huntington National Bank branch’’ and that many of the dimensional variances stem from fitting the building footprint into the existing curb and landscape configuration and from avoiding an eight-inch fire-protection main that lies outside the property line. Emerick also addressed the required stacking-space standard for drive-through lanes, saying the project would include multiple drive-through lanes and that it was unlikely all stacking spaces would be occupied simultaneously.

A Huntington Bank representative, identified in the record as Scribe Hawk, design director for Huntington’s corporate real estate team, said the chain currently anticipates this location as a net increase to its portfolio but that no final business decision had been made: ‘‘We are looking at this as being an increase to our portfolio…we're viewing this as a net increase as we get the project approved,’’ the representative said.

Key technical and plan details entered into the record during the hearing included: - Proposed building size: 3,600 square feet with four drive-through lanes (three teller/drive-up lanes plus one ATM lane stated in the record). - Parking: 13 spaces around the property. - Setbacks and variances: front setback proposed at 72.5 feet where staff cited an 80-foot requirement; rear setback proposed at about 13 feet where a 20-foot rear setback was noted as required; parking/pavement setbacks proposed at roughly 8 feet from side property lines where a 10-foot parking setback is required. - Dumpster location: shown in the rear corner and approximately 1 foot from a side property line. - Landscaping: plan to include 10 shade trees, 85 shrubs, a 3.5-foot screening between parking and the right of way, and roughly 26% of the lot remaining landscaped. - Total variances reported by staff: seven.

Members of the public raised circulation concerns based on other nearby plaza drive-through queuing. A resident described high Saturday queueing at a nearby Dunkin’ location and warned that long stacking could interfere with circulation in the shared parking lot; staff and the applicant responded explaining proposed lane distribution and site circulation measures.

Commissioners moved, withdrew and re-made a motion to record an approval that included a recommended condition: the property must be subdivided in accordance with the approved plan prior to issuance of a building permit. The final motion to approve the conditional use and PC2024-047 passed on a roll-call vote: Commissioner Basic — yes; Commissioner Clancy — yes; Commissioner Wagner — yes. The motion carried and the plan was approved with the subdivision condition noted.

The file notes that staff has proposed future zoning-code adjustments to reduce the frequency of the dimensional variances now being requested for small commercial parcels in the city.

Condition and next steps: the commission recorded the condition of approval that the property be subdivided in accordance with the approved plan before a building permit is issued; the approval otherwise authorizes the site plan, lot split/consolidation and the specified variances for PC2024-047.