Developer seeks SUP for pickleball courts and restaurant with drive‑through; commissioners press parking and corridor planning questions

An applicant seeking a specific‑use permit for outdoor commercial recreation — a public pickleball court — alongside a proposed restaurant with a drive‑through presented preliminary plans and the commission asked detailed questions about parking, buffering and how the project fits the broader John King corridor.

Tyler Adams of Greenlight Studio described a site plan that pairs pickleball courts with a restaurant; the courts would be screened from adjacent residential lots by a wooded floodplain and proposed landscaping; the closest property line to the courts would be about 144 feet, Adams said. The applicant said the restaurant operator is local and not a national chain.

Commissioners asked whether parking would accommodate players who do not dine in. Adams said the intent was for the restaurant’s parking to serve both dining and court users and that worst‑case parking calculations would assume restaurant use for both structures; staff said they were counting parking “as if both uses are restaurants” as a conservative assumption. Commissioners also raised noise and buffer concerns and probed how this site fits into the city’s planning for John King Boulevard; one commissioner said the corridor’s future role has not been fully decided and urged clearer big‑picture planning.

The applicant showed two proposed buildings (one roughly 9,000 square feet and another around 2,500 square feet) and said the outdoor space is the primary amenity; commissioners and staff discussed screening, distances to residences, and the project’s likely parking requirements. The commission did not take a final vote; staff said the SUP is discretionary and will be followed by site‑plan review if approved.