Council approves variances for Qdoba and Smoothie King at 33560 Aurora Road amid parking and noise concerns

The Solon City Council on Oct. 20 approved a package of variances and a site plan for 33560 Aurora Road that will allow a two-tenant building housing a Qdoba and a Smoothie King, including a drive-through lane, after a 4-3 roll-call vote.

The variances approved included a 63-foot front-yard building setback variance, a 16-foot front-yard parking setback variance, a 12-foot side-yard parking setback variance, a 20-foot rear-yard parking setback variance (approved 3-1 by the planning commission), reductions to the off-street loading requirements, reduced spacing between access drives, a 2-foot width of street access drive variance, cross-access drive variances, site buffer variances, and a parking variance that reduces the required 88 spaces to 25. The planning commission approved the site plan and variances contingent on compliance with a planning department memo dated Sept. 5, 2025; an engineering memo dated Sept. 5, 2025; a fire department memo dated Sept. 22, 2025; and an additional planning director memo submitted Oct. 16, 2025. The applicant agreed to consolidate the parcels as required.

Why it matters: The project repurposes a vacant parcel on Aurora Road and involves a drive-through adjacent to residential property on Baldwin; councilmembers and staff debated whether new menu-board technology, an 8-foot masonry wall and expanded landscaping would sufficiently mitigate noise, light and trash impacts for nearby homeowners.

Project proponents and staff described measures intended to limit impacts. Steven Pulber, the architect for the project, said the Smoothie King drive-through’s menu board will use ambient-sound controls and is set back about 80 feet from an eight-foot rear wall and neighboring backyards. “We feel very comfortable with the queue that we have,” Pulber said, adding that the applicant operates as the franchisee for both tenants and expects a high proportion of online and carry-out orders. He also confirmed the team had reviewed and agreed to the Oct. 16 planning director memo and the other memos.

Opponents and some councilmembers cited experience with past drive-throughs on Aurora Road and raised concerns about stacking onto Aurora, late-night noise and parking shortages. “I’m just not comfortable with this, so I’m gonna be voting no on it,” Councilmember Meaney said during debate, citing the history of drive-through impacts on the corridor.

Councilmember Bentley moved to approve the package; the motion was seconded by Councilmember Zalwin. Roll call: Bentley — yes; Khan — yes; Lobscher — no; Meaney — no; Palunas — yes; Schmitz — no; Zowen — yes. Outcome: approved (4-3).

Conditions recorded in the planning staff report and accepted in council remarks require the applicant to meet the planning, engineering and fire department memos and to consolidate the parcels. Council discussion also recorded a commitment from the applicant to design lot lighting to code (and to shut off parking-lot lighting when the stores are closed), to extend an eight-foot masonry wall along the rear property line (two additional feet were discussed from an earlier standard) to reduce noise and trash overspill, and to work with the planning department on fence and landscape material for the street-facing patio area.

Key clarifying details recorded in the meeting: - Approved variances are contingent on compliance with planning department memo (09/05/2025), engineering memo (09/05/2025), fire memo (09/22/2025) and an Oct. 16 planning director memo; the applicant agreed to those conditions. - Approved parking: city zoning formula called for 88 spaces; council approved variance to allow 25 spaces. - Approved wall: an eight-foot masonry wall at the rear was discussed and the applicant agreed to extend it to address trash and noise concerns. - Store hours described by the project team: Qdoba 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily; Smoothie King weekday hours given as 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (hours provided by the applicant during the meeting). - Deliveries: applicant said deliveries occur before opening and that early-morning deliveries would not conflict with business hours because the stores open later than traditional fast-food drive-through operations.

The approval follows the planning commission’s earlier, conditional approvals and leaves implementation dependent on the applicant meeting the requirements in the memos and consolidating the parcels. Councilmembers said the decision reflected both planning staff recommendations and lingering neighborhood concerns; three councilmembers voted no.