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Commission approves 7 Brew drive-through at 1950 Tiffin Avenue with variance, signage and cooler-façade conditions
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Summary
The commission approved site plan and conditional-use requests for a 7 Brew Coffee drive-through at 1950 Tiffin Avenue, subject to receiving a variance for canopy setback, installing employee parking signage, and adding a matching façade to integrate an exterior cooler into the building elevations.
Findlay City Planning Commission members voted March 13 to approve a site plan review and conditional use permitting a 7 Brew Coffee drive-through on a new outlot at 1950 Tiffin Avenue, subject to several conditions: obtain a variance for the canopy side-yard setback, install signage to reserve employee parking stalls, and incorporate the proposed exterior walk-in cooler into the main building façade with decorative panels to improve aesthetics.
Staff explained the parcel is within the C-2 (General Commercial) district and that 7 Brew’s operation is primarily drive-through; the applicant proposed a double-lane drive-through with a canopy over the pickup window. The applicant requested a variance to place the canopy 9.3 feet from the side property line rather than the 15-foot standard. Staff also flagged an exterior walk-in cooler located on a concrete pad next to the building and recommended integrating it into the structure rather than leaving it freestanding for aesthetic reasons.
Engineering staff noted the site would use the existing driveway and that water service will connect to the 12-inch main along Tiffin Avenue; stormwater requirements were not triggered because the project does not increase impervious area. The applicant’s representative, Matt Books, director of operations for 7 Brew in Ohio, told commissioners that the operation functions primarily as a drive-through with person-to-person ordering at the order-taker and that deliveries would use the drive-through lane when necessary. He agreed to the condition of decorative panels to visually integrate the cooler.
Commissioners discussed parking layout and recommended signage to identify employee stalls if the curbed area is not extended to include those spaces. The commission then approved site plan SP-02-2025 and conditional use CU-06-2025 with the conditions recorded on the motion, including the cooler façade treatment.
The applicant must secure the variance for the canopy side-yard setback and complete standard permitting and inspections before construction.
