Council approves QuickTrip conditional use for former Red Lobster site with variances, adds conditions requiring council review of further variances

The Mayor and Council approved a conditional use permitting a QuickTrip convenience store with fueling at 1050 Hulcom Bridge Road (the former Red Lobster site), along with concurrent variances to the city's Build‑to zone and approval of a modular retaining wall along a grade change.

Jeannie Payeyton, the city's Planning and Zoning Director, presented the staff recommendation and noted the site's constraints: 3.1 acres with significant grade change near Big Creek, an existing Georgia Department of Transportation right‑of‑way strip between the roadway and the site, and the 2040 land‑use designation of commercial/mixed use. The proposal called for a roughly 6,400‑square‑foot store and eight fuel pumps under a single canopy; staff recommended approval with conditions (land‑disturbance permit modifications allowed to meet transportation conditions and other agency requirements).

Applicant representatives — Dakota Kurthers (Parker Poe) and Brian Moira (QuickTrip) — described design changes made through review (including a proposed right‑in/right‑out and a northern turn lane) and noted that the design review board and the Planning Commission had recommended approval with conditions. They said the latest site plan reflected extensive interdepartmental review and that QuickTrip would pursue additional engineering with transportation and possible right‑of‑way agreements with the city or GDOT to implement a left‑turn/stacking lane required by conditions.

Council members extensively questioned staff and the applicant about: who would construct or dedicate right‑of‑way for the left‑turn lane; the nature and scope of the retaining wall (the highest point was represented as 23 feet); whether a 30‑square‑foot encroachment into the Big Creek stream buffer required a Board of Zoning Appeals variance (staff said the engineering review to come with the Land Disturbance Permit will determine whether administrative relief or BZA review is required); and how much latitude staff would have to approve "minor" LDP modifications without returning to council. Transportation Director Andy Floyer described efforts to fit a stacking/left‑turn lane in the available curb geometry, with options that could rely on city right‑of‑way and taper designs that fit with the existing curb radii.

Public comment included one resident (Tia Merryweather) who said she worried traffic would back up at Hulcom Bridge Road and Dogwood Road if turning movements were not built to handle additional site traffic. Planning Director Payeyton and staff emphasized that the conditional‑use approval granted a use in the CC zoning district while variances to Build‑to requirements and the retaining wall over six feet were the specific items asked of council.

Councilmember Christine Hall moved approval with added language that "no other variances from the Unified Development Code are approved, granted, or deemed waived by this site plan approval that have not been expressly granted concurrent with this site plan approval" and that any further variances would return to Mayor and Council. Councilmember Philippy seconded; the amended motion passed unanimously.

What happens next: staff will finalize conditions and the applicant will pursue the Land Disturbance Permit (LDP) and final engineering; any substantial change that creates new variances will be returned to council for action.