Plan Commission approves drive‑through coffee shop at 1120 South Pooler Street with multiple exceptions

The City of Oshkosh Plan Commission voted to approve a rezone to suburban mixed use with a plan development overlay, a general development plan and a specific implementation plan for a 530-square-foot drive-through coffee shop at 1120 South Pooler Street (motion carried 6-0 with one member recorded as present).

Staff described the quarter-acre property as occupied by an existing restaurant building (a Pizza Hut) and noted the PD overlay is intended to allow flexibility because of the small lot size. The proposal demolishes the existing building and most of the parking to construct a two-lane drive-through facility with shared access to adjoining parking lots. The applicant requested base-standard modifications (BSMs) for reduced front, side and rear setbacks (drive-through lanes within about 13.5 feet of the front property line and 0-foot side and rear setbacks), a parking reduction to allow zero on-site parking stalls (code would require two spaces), and higher acceptable light levels at property lines (up to 2.9 foot-candles along north/south property lines and 1.7 foot-candles along the rear where the code maximum is 0.5 foot-candle at property lines). Staff supported the BSMs because of constrained site area and availability of shared parking in adjacent lots.

Staff also noted the total impervious surface would be 78.1%, exceeding the SMU district maximum of 70%; staff supported the higher ratio given the small lot size. The applicant increased landscaping and provided nearly triple the required total landscaping points, and upgraded street-side tree plantings (Arborvitae from code minimum 4 feet to 6 feet) to mitigate headlights from the drive-through lanes. The applicant asked to use Nichiha fiber-cement siding, which staff said is technically a class-3 material but is high-quality and comparable to class-1 materials; staff recommended approval and the commission considered the materials and screening during the hearing.

Eric Traskowski of Excel Engineering said staff’s summary reflected the project and described coordination in a prior workshop to increase landscaping and shield headlights. Commissioners asked questions about traffic flow at the site and whether any longer-term circulation improvements in the area were possible; staff said circulation is a nonconforming constraint of the site and could be addressed when extensive parking-lot reconstruction occurs. No members of the public spoke against the proposal. The commission voted in favor of the staff recommendations with the recorded outcome of 6 in favor, 0 opposed and 1 present.