The Cobb Planning Commission Tuesday voted to continue a rezoning request by Guthrie’s Chicken for a drive-through location in East Cobb.
The board voted 5-0 to push back an initial hearing on the application to December.
The item had been on the meeting’s consent agenda, but opposition arose from the East Cobb Civic Association.
The fast-food chain purchased 0.3 acres on Lower Roswell at Johnson Ferry Road last year with plans to convert a vacated medical building into a drive-through-only restaurant.
DG East Cobb Guthrie’s LLC (you can read the application here) is requesting a change from a planned shopping center (PSC) to a neighborhood retail commercial (NRC) category.
The request also seeks a reduction from the existing 15 parking spaces to 12 and a reduction of the front setback from 50 feet to 20 feet, and would increase the impervious surface maximum from 70 to 92.9 percent.
But the ECCA last week submitted a letter recommending that the request be delayed, due to concerns over some of those proposed variances and other details.
The civic group said the initial application “contained a barely readable site plan,” did not provide a rendering or landscaping, floor, lighting and signage plans.
Guthrie’s filed the application before hiring noted zoning attorney Kevin Moore.
The ECCA said that it hasn’t had much time to respond to some of Moore’s clarifications about what is being proposed, including building height, specific modifications to the structure and traffic concerns.
Moore said that between 22-25 vehicles could be accommodated on the site at any given time.
“However, without further study or analysis of this issue, ECCA is not convinced this number of vehicles can be safely moved through the drive-thru at one time and that traffic will not block access to CVS and in addition, cause a backup into the right turn lane on Lower Roswell Road,” the ECCA noted in its letter.
The ECCA also said it’s concerned about a lack of detail about how customers would pick up food at a walk-up window.
“There is no indication whether there will be a striped walkway for customers to safely cross the traffic of the drive-thru to pick up their food,” the ECCA said. “This concern must also be addressed.”
You can read the full ECCA letter by clicking here.
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