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Planning commission approves variances to allow Dutch Bros drive‑through at 5784 Taylor Branch Road
Summary
The commission unanimously approved variances to reduce landscape buffer widths and allow 9‑foot parking spaces for a proposed Dutch Bros drive‑through at 5784 Taylor Branch Road, with staff saying the small triangular infill site otherwise would be undevelopable.
The Port Orange Planning Commission on July 31 approved variances that clear the way for a Dutch Bros coffee shop with a double drive‑through at 5784 Taylor Branch Road.
City planner Penelope Cruz told commissioners the 0.58‑acre, triangular site fronts three roadways and was previously an abandoned gas station. "In order to support the redevelopment of this site, it does require the variances that were described," Cruz said, summarizing requests to reduce two right‑of‑way landscape buffers (to a variable width from about 5 feet up to 12 feet) and to allow 9‑foot‑wide parking spaces in lieu of the city's 10‑foot standard.
The variances, Cruz said, reflect common constraints on small infill lots and would permit more landscaping than current conditions provide on the property. "Even with those reduced buffers, . . . it would make a pretty significant impact as far as the appearance of a main entrance way into the city," she said. Staff recommended approval following a review of variance criteria.
Bob Ziegenfoos of Z Development Services, representing the applicant, described how landscaping would be concentrated in the site corners and along the larger buffer areas. He also said the double stacking lane in the drive‑through plan would accommodate typical Dutch Bros throughput: "They typically like to see 15 cars in their drive through. This particular one has 17," he said, adding designers expect the layout to handle up to 20 stacked vehicles before a queue would reach the public road.
Commissioners asked about traffic, landscaping survivability in narrower buffers and whether the Taylor Branch driveway would remain open. Cruz said the Taylor Branch access would be closed as required and that any traffic analysis and concurrency review would be done at site‑plan review if the variances remained approved.
Commission discussion noted the site has an additional 50 feet of FDOT right‑of‑way green space that provides separation from the paved roadway; Cruz and commissioners said that green strip reduces the practical impact of narrower private‑property buffers. Several commissioners also said the current vacant, abandoned gas station is a blight and welcomed redevelopment that includes landscaping improvements.
The motion to approve the variances passed by roll call. Vote callers recorded affirmative votes for the motion and the case was marked approved.
The commission did not receive public comment on the item at the hearing. The applicant and staff will proceed to the site‑plan and building permit stages; those later reviews will address engineering, stormwater and traffic concurrency requirements.
(Clarifying details: the staff presentation referenced Land Development Code variance requests from "chapter 12, section 6B and chapter 13, section 3 d," and noted the proposal seeks 9‑foot parking stalls instead of the city’s current 10‑foot standard. The property is 0.58 acres and was described as triangular and constrained, with staff estimating only ~9,790 square feet of developable area would remain if full standard buffers were required.)
