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Design Review Board asks Restaurant Depot applicant for softer façade, optional rendering
Summary
The Waterford Design Review Board asked the applicants behind a proposed 45,000-square-foot Restaurant Depot at 161 Waterford Parkway North to submit an optional rendering showing treatments to break up large wall masses and improve the building's public-facing appearance; the board voted 5-0 to request the rendering so it can forward a positive recommendation to Planning and Zoning.
The Waterford Design Review Board on Feb. 24 reviewed site plans for a proposed 45,000-square-foot Restaurant Depot at 161 Waterford Parkway North and asked the applicant to provide an optional façade rendering that would reduce the visual mass of the building.
Chas Evans of Bohler Engineering and applicant Larry Cohen (WS Asset Management) told the board the project would sit on an existing building pad next to WalMart and Lowe's and complies with parking and C-R zoning setback requirements. Heather Mize of ADA Architects described the building as a simple blue-and-white design with recessed loading docks, an enclosed compactor and an 8-foot fence with white vinyl slats to screen refrigeration equipment and a generator. The design includes one main customer entrance and a front pallet door for large-quantity purchases.
Board members expressed concern that broad, unarticulated wall planes facing busy roads and driveways would create an unappealing public presentation. Chairman John O'Neill asked the design team to consider measures that would “break up the mass” of the façades; the applicant presented optional elevations that incorporated additional color and painted vertical striping on concrete panels. Member Robert Nye said the vertical elements alone might not be sufficient and suggested alternative color treatments; member Joy Merrill requested a formal planting plan to supplement the existing buffer along Waterford Parkway North.
Chas Evans said the team would supplement the existing buffer and add trees to parking islands, and noted that a sightline plan showed rooftop HVAC units would not be visible from grade. To formalize the board's request, member Robert Nye moved — seconded by Ed Pellegri — that the board ask the applicant to submit an optional rendering illustrating a more visually appealing façade so the board can provide a positive recommendation to the Planning and Zoning Commission for application PL-26-3. The motion passed, 5-0.
The board's recommendation is advisory; the Planning and Zoning Commission will receive the Design Review Board's comments as it considers site-plan approval. The application materials referenced a set of plans titled "Site Development Plans for Proposed Restaurant Depot, 161 Waterford Pkwy North" (last revised Dec. 10, 2025).
