McDonald's-CS 970619 CITY OF COPPELL
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
STAFF REPORT
CASE NO.: S-1022R, McDONALD'S
P & Z HEARING DATE: June 19, 1997
C.C. HEARING DATE: July 8, 1997
LOCATION: Approx. 201 feet south of the Southwest comer of Sandy Lake and
Denton Tap Roads.
SIZE OF AREA: 0.987 acres; proposed 1475 s.f. addition to a 4767 s.f. existing
building
CURRENT ZONING: C -S.U.P. (Commercial, Special Use Permi0
REQUEST: Amend the Site Plan to permit a 1,475-square-foot attached
enclosed play area on the north side of the existing restaurant.
APPLICANT: McDonald's Corporation Architect:
511 East Carpenter Fwy, Ste 375 David E. Larsen
Irving TX 75062 3011 Canton
(972) 869-1888 Dallas TX 75226
Fax (972) 869-5380 (214) 939-3908
Fax (214) 939-3907
HISTORY: A recorded plat of this property is dated December 3, 1987. City
Council rezoned the property from "R" Retail to "C" Commercial
and granted a Special Use Permit for a drive-through type
restaurant on July 18, 1989.
TRANSPORTATION: Denton Tap Road is a P6D six-lane divided major thoroughfare
within a 120'-wide right-of-way.
Item # 8
SURROUNDING LAND USE & ZONING:
North - Existing Exxon service station; "R" Retail
South - Existing KFC restaurant; "C" Commercial
East - Existing Town Oaks Centre Shopping Center; "C" Commercial
West - Undeveloped; "R" Retail
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN: The Comprehensive Plan shows the property suitable for
neighborhood retail use.
DISCUSSION: This property contains a conforming use with non-conforming site
development standards. By current standards, the site development is
short by 8 parking spaces and by about 7000 square feet of landscaping.
The zoning ordinance permits expansion of the building provided that all
new construction and pavement observe all the current area regulations
and development standards.
Over the past 10 years, lack of adequate parking has been readily
apparent. On many occasions parking spills out into off-site driveways on
the south and west.
Current regulations require that the addition of 1475 square feet of gross
restaurant building area be accompanied by the addition of 15 more
parking spaces. Since there is no room on the site for any additional
parking, the only avenue available to the applicant is to seek a special
exception from the Board of Adjustment for a 36 % reduction in parking
(40 provided vs. 63 required). If the Planning and Zoning Commission
and City Council were inclined toward permitting building expansion
without additional parking, approval could be subject to the Board of
Adjustment granting a special exception.
Addition of 1475 square feet of building, however, will increase the
landscaping shortfall. Therefore, even with a special exception to the
parking requirements, it is difficult to see how new construction to
accommodate the enlargement can observe all the current landscaping
standards of the ordinance.
Finally, there is the issue of Coppell's visual image. Compared against
the recommendations of the recent C.I.V.I.C. report, the proposed
building addition has too much glass, not enough cornice and insufficient
variety of form and detail. The proposal represents the classic conflict of
standardized corporate image imposed upon hundreds of communities
versus local desire to maintain a distinctive community image. The
C.I.V.I.C. report cites that the retail portions of Coppell reflect traditional
style, a human scale, variety of building elements and interesting detail.
Not only does the standard McDonald's Playplace not observe that theme,
Item # 8
but in addition it is intended as an attraction, designed to get the attention
of children, and in that way could be likened to the pennants, banners,
lights and signs that many cities prohibit, including Coppell.
RECOMMENDATION TO THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION:
Planning staff recommends disapproval. The principal reason is the
reduction of landscaping resulting from the building expansion, further
aggravating a situation already substandard by current criteria. We
believe that Section 40 of the Zoning Ordinance, as recently amended,
makes it clear that building expansion is permissible only when the new
construction conforms with current development standards. On this
property, existing site constraints make it impossible for that to occur.
Another consideration is the history of insufficient parking. Staff believes
that it would be more prudent to solve the existing parking problem before
embarking upon building expansion plans. A third consideration is the
disparity between the use of property for attention-getting purposes and
the desire of the community to maintain traditional building standards in
its retail districts.
ALTERNATIVES: 1) Recommend approval of the request
2) Recommend disapproval of the request
3) Recommend modification of the request
4) Take under advisement for reconsideration at a later date.
ATTACHMENTS: 1) Landscape/Site Plan
2) Floor Plan
3) Building Elevations
4) Departmental Comments
Item # 8
DEVELOPMENT REVIEW COMMITTEE
ENGINEERING COMMENTS
ITEM: S-1022R, McDonald's, a zoning change from C-S.U.P. (Commercial,
Special Use Permit) by amending the site plan of a drive-through
restaurant to permit a 1,375 square foot attached enclosed play area
on the north side of the existing restaurant, located on property 201
feet south of the southwest comer of Sandy Lake Road an Denton
Tap Road, at the request of ~ E. Larsen and Associates, Inc.
DRC DATE: May 29, 1997 and June 5, 1997
CONTACT: Mike Martin, P.E., Assistant City Engineer 004-3679)
COMMENT STATUS: por, r.,,-~,-~..,...r~rnT A,.~.,~ ox, /FINAL :RE4z.~/E-D
1. Roadway Impact Fee will be applicable.