Canal Winchester council advances Green Gate Plaza preliminary plan after Kroger seeks parking-setback waiver

City officials on June 2 took up a preliminary development plan for Green Gate Plaza, a proposed 17.9-acre commercial planned commercial district (PCD) at the corner of Duff Parkway and Dilley Road, and advanced an ordinance to send the plan to full council after hearing a presentation from the developer and a Kroger representative.

The plan lays out five outlots, including a 13-acre anchor site intended for a large grocer and a separate fuel outlot. Planning and Zoning recommended adoption, finding the plan met the 2001 PCD development text requirements and the city’s circulation and utility standards.

Kroger’s civil engineer, Andrew Gardner of V3 Companies, told council the company will return with a final development plan that addresses architectural details but asked council to waive or modify a provision in the Chapter 11.75 overlay that would push required parking 200 feet behind the right-of-way. “This parcel’s simply not that deep,” Gardner said, calling the overlay parking setback “not feasible” operationally for a grocery store and saying Kroger would seek relief so a conventional parking configuration can serve the store safely.

Why it matters: the overlay district adopted after the 2001 PCD added stricter placement rules intended to change the public-facing appearance of commercial development. Those overlay standards apply unless the older PCD text already prescribes a requirement. The parking-setback clause is the main overlay element Kroger asked the council to waive with preliminary-plan adoption; staff noted the alternative would be for a future variance before Planning and Zoning.

Council and residents pressed staff and the applicant on landscaping, buffering and architecture. Council members repeatedly asked that Kroger and the developer provide more detailed elevation and materials boards before council votes on final approvals. Jim Brown, Kroger construction manager, said the company’s architect (Moody Nolan) is working with city planners and that Kroger will submit a materials board at the final development-plan stage. “We will make sure we have a materials board for you,” Brown said.

Staff presentations described how the site meets the 2001 PCD text (including a 75-foot Dilley Road landscape buffer), how utilities will be extended to the outparcels, and how new Green Gate Boulevard — to be constructed by the city later this year — will connect through the development. City staff also told council that parts of the 2005 overlay do apply to this 17.9-acre tract and that the overlay’s architectural, stormwater and parking sections may require adjustments or variances.

Council action and next steps: Council voted to move the ordinance adopting the preliminary development plan to full council for a later vote; the applicant signaled it would ask council to waive the third reading and begin work this year if final approvals follow. Staff and the applicant committed to provide updated elevation renderings, materials boards and traffic-study documentation to council in advance of the next meeting.

Quotes: “Tonight is a preliminary development plan approval. We’re not asking for approval of those building elevations,” Andrew Gardner said, emphasizing the company would return with a final plan. “The applicant has committed to provide additional materials and elevation information before final development-plan review,” City Planner Andrew Moore said.

Ending: The project remains subject to a final development plan review (which will return to Planning and Zoning and then to council). Council advancement of the preliminary plan preserves the applicant’s ability to file final plans, but several council members signaled they expect to see more detailed architectural commitments before they will endorse final approvals.