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Planning board approves revised site plan for Plain Street development with drive‑thru and reduced parking
Summary
After a continuance from May 19, the Planning Board approved a revised site plan and two special permits for a multi‑tenant commercial project at 190–198 Plain Street that includes a Starbucks, Chipotle and Popeyes, subject to transportation mitigation and other staff conditions.
The Lowell City Planning Board on June 2 approved a revised site plan and two special permits for a commercial redevelopment at 190–198 Plain Street that will house multiple quick‑service tenants, including Starbucks, Chipotle and Popeyes.
Attorney John Gary, representing Lowell Dev LLC, told the board the project team had submitted revised plans addressing concerns raised at a May 19 hearing: a swept‑path analysis for fire access, updated landscape plans coordinated with city landscape staff and wastewater/utility revisions. Engineer Chris Shea said the revised plan accommodates a counterclockwise fire access loop and that the fire department had approved the updated swept‑path analysis.
The site plan retains about 30 combined parking spaces for Starbucks and Chipotle/Popeyes; engineers said the tenant mix, staggered peak times and a 30‑space total would meet peak needs. The applicant’s transportation engineers and the city traffic reviewer identified a package of mitigation measures; the applicant agreed to incorporate all recommended measures into final construction drawings and to implement a transportation demand management plan.
Chris Shea said the project reduces overall stormwater runoff to Plain Street by routing most impervious runoff into underground infiltration systems; a small overflow will tie into a drain manhole at Plain and Tanner Street but the system reduces existing volume and peak flow. The applicant’s landscape revisions include 11 deciduous street trees on Plain Street, additional interior and perimeter trees and clusters of evergreens along Montreal Street.
Board members asked that the applicant incorporate the traffic engineer’s written recommendations and memos (including a May 13 traffic engineer memo and a May 15 memo from Ben Hazen Associates). Planning staff and the applicant agreed to conditions that included: incorporation of the city traffic‑engineer mitigation measures, compliance with comments from Ben Hazen Associates, final landscaping and lighting to staff approval, and inclusion of a city‑required oil/water separator in the operation/maintenance plan.
The board voted unanimously to approve the site plan, the drive‑thru special permit and the reduced parking special permit with the conditions cited by staff and the transportation reviewer. The approvals were conditioned on the applicant’s incorporation of the final DPD and transportation revisions and on final signoff from departments listed in the staff memo.
Board members said they welcomed the landscaping improvements, accepted the fire department’s circulation finding, and noted the project should add retail activity and employment to Plain Street.
