Peachtree City panel approves Take 5 oil shop with drive‑through coffee, requires two added parking spaces

Peachtree City’s Planning Commission approved a revised conceptual site plan Aug. 12 for a combined Take 5 oil‑change and drive‑through coffee shop at 2714 Highway 54 West, adding a condition that two parking spaces be added behind the coffee shop.

The proposal, presented by applicant Theresa Curry, reduces the previously approved four service bays to three for Take 5 and converts the fourth bay area to a separate coffee shop with a drive‑through lane. City staff planner Laura said the project adds a longer entry drive, a new drive‑through stacking lane for the coffee shop and increases the minimum parking requirement from nine to 11 spaces under the Highway 54 Corridor Overlay District. Staff recommended approval, noting the 30‑foot landscape buffer remains unchanged and the design otherwise meets applicable ordinances.

Commissioners pressed the applicant about operations, parking and circulation. Commissioner Chris said he was concerned about the number and locations of pedestrian crossings and potential conflicts created by walk‑up customers, and suggested eliminating walk‑ups to reduce crossings. "It just seems like an accident waiting to happen," Commissioner Chris said. Theresa Curry responded the coffee shop will be drive‑through focused with a walk‑up window provided mainly for egress and convenience, and that the majority of parking will be used by staff arriving before peak traffic.

Commissioners also asked about stacking and peak‑hour interactions between the oil‑change bays and the coffee queue. The applicant replied that the oil‑change area can accommodate up to 12 cars before impeding coffee‑shop operations and that the coffee stacking lane can handle seven cars. "Our stacking can be accommodated on‑site because we are so long and deep in this parcel," Curry said. Staff added that if queuing ever backed into the GDOT right‑of‑way, the state agency would be the enforcing authority.

Commissioners debated the awkward placement of a single parking stall behind the coffee shop and whether two additional spaces could be added. The applicant said she could fit two more spaces but noted green‑space limits.

Commissioner Hamner moved to approve the conceptual site plan and elevations as submitted. Commissioner Chris amended the motion to require two additional parking spaces immediately behind the coffee shop; that amendment was adopted and the commission approved the proposal 4–1, with Commissioner Reeves recorded as the lone “nay.” The approval is conceptual; construction drawings and a landscape plan will follow and be subject to subsequent review.

The commission’s action includes the condition that the final construction drawings show the additional stalls behind the coffee shop and that the required signed and sealed engineer’s certificate be included for construction documents.