Plan Commission approves Chipotle conditional use permit for outdoor dining and stacking exception

The Marshfield Plan Commission voted unanimously on Feb. 17 to approve a conditional use permit allowing outdoor dining for a proposed Chipotle restaurant on North Central Avenue and to permit an exception to the city's 40-foot drive-through stacking requirement.

City planner James Levin presented the application on behalf of Samantha Contour Development LLC and Midland Management LLC, describing a parcel split that would create a 0.67-acre lot for Chipotle and a 1.22-acre lot for the existing BMO bank. Levin told the commission the proposal included a patio "containing 6 tables, with seating for approximately 20 patrons" and an operational plan that substitutes "4 designated pull ahead stalls in lieu of the required stacking distance." He said staff finds the proposed alternative "function[s] in a manner consistent with the intent of the stacking requirements."

Levin cited applicable municipal code provisions for community mixed-use (CMU) zoning and drive-through stacking standards and referenced compliance with Wisconsin Act 67 for conditional use procedures. After a brief public hearing with no comments, Alderman O'Reilly moved to approve the request and John Caprillion seconded. The roll call recorded unanimous yes votes by the commissioners present and the motion passed.

The approval authorizes the outdoor dining as a permanent principal use under the conditional use rules and permits the four pull-ahead stalls as the operational substitute for the 40-foot stacking minimum; the commission did not enumerate additional conditions on the record beyond the standard ability to attach exceptions or modifications as justified.