Planning board recommends approval of Sutton Crossings Ace Hardware site plan, denies proposed drive‑thru waiver

The Planning and Zoning Board LPA of Winter Springs unanimously recommended approval Thursday of final engineering and site plans for a proposed Ace Hardware store and three additional retail spaces on a 5.88‑acre parcel at the northeast corner of Tuscawilla Road and Michael Blake Boulevard, but declined to recommend approval of a proposed side‑yard drive‑through.

Tara Lynn Roll, director of community development, told the board the applicant, EPB Engineering on behalf of the Sutton Crossings team, submitted an application for a 5.88‑acre site in the Town Center T‑5 transect and that staff reviewed final engineering, stormwater, transportation and parking analysis and six waiver requests. Roll said staff recommended approval of five waivers but was not recommending approval of the waiver to allow a drive‑through on the side yard because the traffic analysis provided did not factor the drive‑through.

The board’s recommendation would forward the project to the City Commission on May 12. The application package proposes an Ace Hardware with a garden center and three additional tenant suites; two of those tenant suites already have leases, Roll said.

Why it matters: the project includes multiple waivers and conditions that affect how the site will be built and operated, and the board’s recommendation sends the application to the City Commission with explicit conditions and concerns flagged for further review.

Key details

- Location and applicant: a 5.88‑acre parcel at the northeast corner of Tuscawilla Road and Michael Blake Boulevard; applicant represented by EPB Engineering and the Sutton Crossings team. - Proposed uses: Ace Hardware with garden area plus three retail suites (two currently under lease: CC’s Veil Salon and Tropical Smoothie Café). - Waivers: six submitted. Staff recommended approval of five waivers (lot size deviation from Town Center standard; two monument signs on Tuscawilla Road and SR 434; a statistical tree survey in lieu of a standard tree and location survey; removal of one specimen tree with mitigation) and recommended denial of the waiver to permit a side‑yard drive‑through located on Tuscawilla Road because the project’s transportation analysis did not include that drive‑through. - Conditions recommended by staff (summary): - Proposed additional tenant uses must be permitted in the T‑5 town center transect or obtain conditional use approval from the City Commission. - Approval of required permits from the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) and the city ERP before building permits or clearing. - Record covenants and restrictions for the owners’ association requiring perpetual maintenance of common infrastructure and an express notice that the parking lot may flood and serve as a retention area during 25‑ and 100‑year, 24‑hour storms; those covenants must hold the city harmless for flooding caused by the approved design. - Economic impact analysis to be reviewed and approved prior to City Commission hearing. - If the drive‑through is not approved, Retail Suite C must remove the drive‑through lane/window and the streetscape along Michael Blake must be continued. - Approval contingent upon city commission approval of an associated right‑of‑way vacation. - Tree mitigation and payments: staff identified mitigation payments required before clearing: $52,800 (credited to removal of trees 4–9 inches DBH, representing 76 credits), $26,700 (for removal of trees 10 inches DBH and larger, representing 89 credits), and eight mitigation credits for removal of one specimen tree in the building footprint; execution of a development agreement before issuance of tree removal/land‑clearing permits. - Prohibition on retail sales, manufacturing, or compounding of products derived from the hemp or cannabis plant (including CBD) on the property. - Landscaping: all turf on the property to be Bahia grass (no St. Augustine or other low‑drought‑tolerant species).

Discussion highlights

- Drive‑through: applicant representative Wes McMillan of Ace Hardware asked the board to consider approval of the drive‑through on the basis of tenant need and said architectural elevations would largely be unchanged, with the end cap accommodating a pickup window. Staff and multiple board members said there was insufficient traffic and queuing analysis specific to the drive‑through and raised operational safety and queuing distance concerns where the site connects to unsignalized Michael Blake Boulevard and Tuscawilla Road. Kyle Morel, engineer of record for Boller Engineering, said the site’s underground chamber and above‑ground ponds are sized for more than a 25‑year event but “just less than the 100‑year,” and the project will discharge at no more than 12 cubic feet per second in the 25‑year event as required by the allowable rate approved during review. - Wildlife/trees: McMillan said the project obtained federal authorization to remove an eagle nest tree and that the tree was removed about two years earlier; he said US Fish & Wildlife (Federal Wildlife Services) had been involved and the applicant paid the required mitigation and inspection obligations. - Flooding and covenants: staff explained the requirement for covenants that acknowledge the parking lot’s function as overflow retention during major storms and the associated indemnification language in favor of the city.

Formal action and vote

The board made a motion to recommend approval of the application with the staff conditions, explicitly approving waiver requests 2 through 6 and leaving the driveway/drive‑through waiver (waiver 1) off that recommendation. The motion carried unanimously on a roll call vote: Chairperson Ma — Aye; Vice Chairperson Michael Ferrante — Aye; Board member Rachel Hood — Aye; Board member David Macon — Aye; Board member Louie Halal — Aye. (Mover/second not specified in the recorded transcript.)

What comes next

If the City Commission accepts the Planning and Zoning Board’s recommendation, the project will return to the commission for final action on May 12. Outstanding items for the applicant to resolve before building permits include SJRWMD ERP approval, finalized development agreement and recorded covenants, payment of tree mitigation fees, and any additional traffic/queuing analyses if the applicant seeks the drive‑through at a later date.

Ending: The Planning and Zoning Board closed its public input without speakers and forwarded the recommendation to the City Commission with the conditions and the board’s specific request that the drive‑through waiver not be approved without additional analysis.