Commission approves 7 Brew drive-through at Oslo Retail with added landscaping stipulation

The Overland Park Planning Commission unanimously approved the final development plan for a 7 Brew Coffee drive-through at the Oslo Retail Center, subject to stipulations A–N and an additional stipulation (O) added at the hearing that requires the applicant to work with city staff to extend landscape screening along 130th Street from property line to property line.

Planner Colin Victory summarized the proposal: a 510-square-foot coffee shop with an attached 275-square-foot cooler, a dual drive-through lane with stacking for up to 19 vehicles, a masonry trash enclosure and pedestrian connections to the public sidewalk. Victory said UDO parking standards allow this restaurant 6 spaces per 1,000 square feet; the applicant provided 11 spaces and offset extra parking with five amenity points (carpool space, bike rack, additional shade trees and increased caliper on one tree). Victory recommended approval with stipulations.

The applicant, Ben Stites, said the building material palette was revised to complement the Chase Bank building nearby and that the team is prepared to continue coordinating on landscaping. The commission reviewed a requested architectural deviation: the code requires 50% glazing in the 2-to-10-foot pedestrian view plane on primary facades; the building’s north façade meets that standard, but the east and west facades fall short (about 32–35% glazing). Staff and the site-plan-review committee asked the applicant to add glazing and the applicant added spandrel glass on the cooler to approach the requirement. Victory said the interior use (primarily back-of-house; no indoor seating) limits the practicality of additional pedestrian-level glazing and recommended the deviation.

Commissioner Mazalonis led extensive discussion about landscaping along 130th Street and the visual effect of headlights and vehicle stacking; commissioners expressed a desire for a continuous landscape treatment across adjacent pads. After back-and-forth with the applicant and staff, the commission added stipulation O, recorded on the public record during the meeting, under which the applicant agreed to work with staff at permitting to extend the drive-through/streetside landscape screening from the east to the west property line and to add an additional street-tree element for continuity across the mall frontage.

Commissioner Mazalonis moved approval of DEV 2025-055 with stipulations A–O; the motion passed 9–0. The applicant and staff will finalize landscaping, a photometric plan for lighting, and material details at permit review.