Council approves text change for Town Center setback after traffic, delivery concerns

Highland City Council on Jan. 7 approved a narrowly tailored change to the Town Center commercial setback rule to allow a building on the last vacant lot near Wendy’s to be sited farther from Town Center Boulevard so a tenant’s pickup window can be accommodated. Council action removed the ordinance subsection imposing a maximum setback that the applicant said prevented the layout they want.

Planning staff and the applicant presented the change as a text amendment that would apply only to the one lot where the proposed restaurant tenant wants a pickup window and limited on-site circulation. Rob Patterson, planning staff, told council the code provision currently imposes a maximum setback—15 feet for a building and 10 feet to a door in the section at issue—and that the applicant sought to amend the code to allow a 25-foot setback so the building could accommodate a pickup window lane without removing required landscape buffers. Thomas Lennart of WPI, the applicant’s representative, told the council the tenant requires a pickup window and that the leasing documents commit them to pickup-only operation; the applicant agreed the site plan, traffic study and engineered details would come back for council approval of a final site plan.

The main focus of public comments and council discussion was traffic flow, delivery-truck parking and how patrons will circulate to the pickup window. Business owners who operate in the Town Center commercial area — including Joe Pavia of Fizz Drinks — said delivery trucks currently park in places that block stalls and ADA access. Residents and business owners urged clearer loading-zone delineation, signage and operational steps to keep delivery vehicles out of customer stalls, and questioned whether the pickup layout would create conflict points with the adjacent Wendy’s drive-through. Planning Commission reviewed the item in December, held a public hearing, and recommended approval of the code change while reserving final judgment on the engineered site plan and traffic impacts until staff and the commission could review a full traffic study.

Council members asked staff and the applicant to plan for: (1) a traffic study and engineered site plan showing lane geometry and conflict points, (2) a clear, signed and marked delivery loading zone so large trucks do not block customer spaces, (3) measures to keep the pickup function from operating as a full drive-through (the applicant’s lease language and site-plan notes were discussed as means to enforce pickup-only operations), and (4) consideration of parking stalls set aside for “waiting” customers who will be texting for pickup. Rob Patterson said a future site-plan approval would allow the council to require additional mitigation and that the applicant had indicated willingness to stipulate pickup-only operation and to include signage and operational measures in the site plan.

After discussion, Councilmember Doug moved to strike the subsection of the Town Center overlay that set maximum building/front-door setbacks (identified in the packet as subsection 3-4713.5.d.3 and d.3.1). Councilmember Ron seconded. The motion passed on an in-chamber vote of 4–0. The code change allows the applicant to proceed with a concept that staff and the commission said could be accommodated subject to a detailed site plan, traffic study and any conditions the council imposes during final review.

The amendment is legislative (a code/text amendment). Council members emphasized they had not approved a final site plan or a full drive-through — they approved a targeted change to the overlay language that removes the maximum setback paragraph at issue and directed staff to return with engineered site-plan materials for council review and any required stipulations.