Design Review Board backs Dunkin' Donuts near Arlington Road with parking condition

The Green City Design Review Board on July 2 recommended that planning approve a proposed 2,600‑square‑foot Dunkin' Donuts at the northeast corner of Arlington Road and Turkey Foot Lake Road, provided the applicant hatched (land‑banked) three parking spaces adjacent to the site entrance.

Brent Artman, the civil engineer representing the developer, told the board the project sits on about 1.06 acres and includes a masonry building, a double drive‑through with roughly 21 stacking spaces, 26 parking spaces and six land‑banked spaces. "We're proposing to build a 2,600 square foot Dunkin' Donuts," Artman said, describing site access, utilities and a stormwater system that will discharge into the public system.

Board members focused on curbside conflicts at the driveway. One committee member warned that cars backing out of the first few angled spaces could block the short throat from Arlington Road and create turning conflicts. The member moved for a favorable recommendation to planning "providing you scribe out or hatch out the first three spaces as you come in," specifying those three entry‑adjacent spaces be marked as land‑banked and restriped administratively if future demand requires them. Artman agreed that paving could be installed and the spaces hatched so they can be activated later.

Members also discussed traffic control measures, including whether to add a splitter island to prevent left‑turn entries from Arlington Road. Artman said splitter islands are primarily designed to control exiting traffic and noted practical constraints: utility poles near the entrance and the need for flared radii to accommodate large delivery vehicles. He told the board deliveries typically occur off‑peak and that trucks serving the site could be as long as 53 feet—information the board said affects island geometry and turning radii.

The board raised screening for rooftop equipment; Artman said rooftop HVAC was generally screened from the ground view but that condensers for the walk‑in cooler at the back might be visible and could require additional screening depending on final elevations. The applicant confirmed the monument sign will meet code at 40 square feet and will include the street address in both directions, as the board requested.

A committee member moved and another seconded the recommendation with the hatch/land‑bank condition. The clerk called the roll and each listed member voted yes. The motion carried, and the board directed that the land‑banked spaces be available for administrative restriping if the store demonstrates a need.

The board closed the meeting with no further unfinished business. The planning review will now consider the board's favorable recommendation and the specified conditions.