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Planning Commission recommends rezoning at 18 Emerald Ave to allow Dunkin' drive-through
Summary
The Planning Commission recommended approval of rezoning PRZ25-007 to convert 18 Emerald Ave from single-family to corridor commercial for a proposed Dunkin' drive-through; staff said the parcel appears to have been an exception on the zoning map and recommended approval, and an adjacent resident voiced minor concerns about potential alternative uses.
The City of Battle Creek Planning Commission on Jan. 28 recommended that the City Commission rezone the parcel at 18 Emerald Ave (parcel 1840-00-004-0) from R-1B single-family residential to B-1 corridor commercial to allow a Dunkin' drive-through.
Staff told commissioners the parcel is one of five contiguous lots under common ownership and that four of the five are already zoned B-1. A staff presentation said the future land-use map shows this area as corridor commercial and suggested the single residential designation on the subject parcel may be a mapping error dating to a 2020 ordinance rewrite. "For all of those stated reasons, staff is recommending approval of this item," a staff member said.
Andrea Bader, an architect with Jeffrey Scott Architects, told the commission the applicant plans to buy all five lots, combine them into one parcel, demolish the existing buildings and construct a Dunkin' with a drive-through. "We're the architects," Bader said, and offered preliminary plans for commissioners to review.
An adjacent homeowner, Brian McPhail Fauzi of 23 Emerald Ave, said he had moved in recently and expressed no significant objection but asked that commissioners note two concerns: that the eventual tenant be Dunkin' rather than a use the neighborhood would find harmful, and whether the developer could fit the business on other rezoned lots and retain the subject lot as residential. "I have no significant objections to what is being done," Fauzi said, but added his preference that the site house Dunkin' rather than an unspecified, less-favorable use.
Commissioners asked about screening and privacy fences along the residential edge; the applicant and staff said screening requirements and a fence would be addressed during the site-plan review process. The commission then moved to vote.
Commissioner Gray moved to approve PRZ25-007 based on staff findings, and Commissioner Morris seconded. Commissioners Denison, Gray, O'Donnell, Hughes, White and Morris voted yes; the motion carried. The Planning Commission's recommendation will proceed to the City Commission for final action.
