Board approves parking variance allowing 56 spaces for proposed Panda Express in Salina

The Salina Board of Zoning Appeals voted 5–0 May 21 to approve application V26-003, a parking-variance request that permits a proposed Panda Express to provide up to 56 off-street parking spaces, exceeding the city's 31-space maximum for a restaurant of this size.

Staff presenting the case summarized the proposal as a 2,827-square-foot restaurant with a maximum occupancy of 75 that would sit on a 1.1-acre outparcel in the 9 South Addition. The planner said Panda Express's parking studies — submitted by the applicant's architect and corporate real-estate team — estimate regional usage at roughly a 70% dine-in to 30% drive-through split and project the Salina location would outperform national averages by 10–15%, producing a functional parking need between 45 and 60 spaces.

"The applicant has provided sufficient data to justify the operational need for extra spaces," the staff member presenting the report said, and recommended approval if the board finds the site's stand-alone configuration and the restaurant's operational model meet the unique-property standard for a variance.

Board members pressed staff and the project's engineer on stormwater and detention capacity. Rex Ritter, City Engineer, said the city "looks at the calculations and check[s] those and see that they provide the adequate volume," and that engineering would investigate if monitoring showed repeated overruns beyond the pond's design. Staff noted the subdivision's regional detention pond was originally conceptualized for a 100-year event while the city's minimum detention requirement is a 25-year storm, and asked the applicant's design engineer to submit drainage calculations to the City of Salina engineer to verify the pond can accommodate runoff from the 56 paved spaces.

The approval includes two conditions read into the record: (1) the applicant's design engineer must submit drainage calculations to the City of Salina engineer demonstrating the additional impervious surface from 56 spaces can be accommodated by the regional detention pond on Lot 1 without negatively impacting the public drainage system; and (2) prior to issuance of any building permit the applicant must obtain planning commission approval of a site development plan in accordance with section 42.40918 and ordinance number 26-11281, and the final number of parking spaces shown on that approved plan shall not exceed the variance allowance.

Henry Clover, the project's architect, spoke on behalf of Panda Express, saying he has worked with the brand for decades and stressed the operational difficulties of a constricted site. "If the site is too constricted, you can run into issues," Clover said, adding the design team is prepared to answer technical questions and provide required calculations.

No unaffiliated members of the public spoke during the public-comment period; staff noted that most Zoom participants appeared affiliated with the case. After brief deliberation, a board member moved to approve the variance with staff's recommended conditions; the motion was seconded and passed 5–0.

By approving V26-003 the board authorized up to 56 off-street parking spaces on Lot 4, subject to the drainage verification and planning commission site-development approval noted in the conditions. The planner said the item will return in paperwork required for the planning commission review before any building permit is issued. The board's next likely meeting will include a study session on June 18.