Commission reviews State Street retail pads and live-work concept; ordinance change may be needed

At a Jan. 28 concept review, developers presented a mixed-use plan for a State Street property that would include two retail pads — the larger pad tentatively lined up with Dunkin' Donuts and the smaller with Jack in the Box — plus a narrow, 75-foot-wide parcel proposed for live-work units (ground-floor commercial or flex space with residential units above). Planning staff and commissioners treated the discussion as feedback only; no formal action was taken.

Heath Johnston, speaking for the applicant group that included McKay Johnston, said the two drive-through pads were prospective and could not be finalized until the commission and staff sign off. He described the narrower parcel as well suited to live-work or workforce-housing units: "we're seeing more... workforce housing," Johnston said, adding that his group had explored possibilities including small retail, repair shops and two-bedroom units above.

Planning staff member Mike Florence told commissioners the planned-residential development overlay currently restricts residential within 300 feet of State Street commercial uses; allowing residential within that 300-foot frontage would require an ordinance amendment to permit mixed use in this parcel under a controlled overlay. Florence and others cautioned that any amendment should be carefully written so it applies only to appropriate locations — commissioners said they did not want a broad change that could be used elsewhere without limits.

Commissioners and staff raised practical concerns: parking and circulation for two drive-throughs, stacking capacity for the proposed tenants, potential traffic impacts on State Street, compatibility with the adjacent church property, and the desirability of acquiring adjacent parcels (including a heating-and-air business on the corner) to improve circulation and layout. Several commissioners suggested the developer try to assemble the corner parcel to create a more functional plan; staff and commissioners also suggested limiting any overlay change to the specific parcel or mapping it only to identified project areas rather than broadly amending the commercial zone.

Because concept reviews do not require action, the conversation focused on issues the applicant must resolve before returning: assembly of adjacent parcels to improve layout, written ordinance language (if pursued) to confine mixed use to the project area, parking and stacking analyses for drive-through operations, and agreement with staff on access points and design standards.