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Taco Bell concept at Tevis site draws strong neighborhood concern over traffic and access
Summary
Developer presented a concept for a Taco Bell at the Tevis site (529 East Baltimore Street) with an accompanying future quick‑service lot. Residents and commissioners raised traffic, pedestrian‑safety and parking concerns; the commission asked for the traffic consultant to present the final traffic study at the next Planning Commission meeting.
City planning staff and the developer presented a concept plan to build a 2,118‑square‑foot Taco Bell at the former Tevis/Rob’s Tower Motors site at East Baltimore Street, reconfiguring two existing parcels so each has East Baltimore frontage and reserving a second lot for a future quick‑service restaurant.
Lauren Smyth of Dynamic Engineering described a phased project: Lot 1 (about 1.14 acres) would house the Taco Bell with a single‑lane drive‑through, 24 parking spaces (including two accessible spaces), a menu board and a proposed freestanding monument sign. Lot 2 (about 1.09 acres) is shown conceptually as a 2,500‑square‑foot quick‑service restaurant requiring about 25 spaces in the concept layout. Smyth said the combined development reduces site impervious cover from about 61.5% to roughly 50.7% and proposes submerged gravel wetlands and proprietary stormwater controls to improve water quality.
The applicant requested a sign‑area variance because the building’s short street frontage yields small by‑right signage under city code; the team submitted a variance application to be heard Oct. 22 by the Board of Zoning Appeals. Smyth said the proposed total sign area is about 225 square feet compared with the by‑right allowance of about 57 square feet for the measured façade.
Public comment focused heavily on traffic, safety and neighborhood cut‑throughs. Dozens of Creekside and Amicus Street residents described existing speeding and sight‑distance problems on Amicus and Brake Iron and warned that a restaurant with an Amicus access could increase cut‑through traffic, endanger pedestrians (including school bus stops) and produce tractor‑trailer and delivery routing concerns. Resident Steve Scholkoff described a “blind area” near the water tower and said traffic already behaves like a high‑speed connector; several residents urged that any pedestrian connection from the development to the neighborhood be improved and that parking‑lot lighting and a crosswalk be provided if off‑site parking or pedestrian routes are used.
Commissioners and staff asked for additional details: whether the sidewalk would connect to existing sidewalks on Amicus/Wilson Avenue, final photometric plans, confirmation that vehicle deliveries and trash collection will not burden neighborhood streets, and whether Lot 2 could become a sit‑down restaurant (the applicant said the landlord retains discretion). The developer stated that the draft traffic impact study has been submitted to the city and that the study includes both lots; the planning commission requested that Dynamic Traffic or the retained traffic consultant present the finalized traffic report at the commission’s next meeting so commissioners and residents can question trip distribution, queuing and intersection capacity analyses.
On the Board of Zoning Appeals issue, commissioners indicated they would forward comments (particularly on traffic and pedestrian access) and, separate from the signage variance (which the Board of Appeals will decide), they emphasized traffic‑study transparency and resident outreach. The commission did not grant or deny any site approvals tonight; staff said final design, permitting and several agency reviews remain before a site plan can be approved.
