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Home My WebLink AboutLOD201900033 Letter of Determination 2019-12-16i �jwj 4V COUNTY OF ALBEMARLE Department of Community Development 401 McIntire Road, North Wing Charlottesville, Virginia 22902-4596 Phone (434) 296-5832 Fax (434) 972-4126 December 16, 2019 John C. Wright 28 Blackwell Park Ln Suite 201 Warrenton, VA 20186 Letter of Determination LOD201900033 — Chick-Fil-A Parking Reduction Parcel ID 04500-00-00-093DO (1.29 acres) 350 Woodbrook Dr Charlottesville, VA 22901 Owner — Chick-Fil-A Inc. 5200 Buffington Rd Atlanta, GA 30349 Dear Mr. Wright: This letter is in response to your request for a parking determination for the Chick-Fil-A at 350 Woodbrook Dr. In accordance with Section 18-4.12 of the Albemarle County Code the Zoning Administrator may modify the number of parking spaces required by Section 4.12.6. Your request is for a reduction of the minimum parking requirement from 60 spaces to 52 spaces, a reduction of 13%. Gross Floor Area: 4,614 square feet Restaurant Use Parking Requirement (4.12.6): 13 spaces per 1000 sf of gross floor area Total required spaces: 60 Spaces provided: 52 As outlined in Section 4.12.2(c) the Zoning Administrator may reduce the minimum number of parking spaces if he finds that the public health, safety or welfare would be equally or better served by the reduction. Based on the available alternatives to parking, trip generation rates, and descriptions of the site outlined in the attached report, "Report Supporting Request for Parking Reduction," it is my official determination that a parking minimum reduction of 13% to 52 spaces will adequately meet the public health, safety or welfare requirement and provide sufficient parking at Chick-Fil-A. If you are aggrieved by this determination, you have a right to appeal it within thirty (30) days of this notice, in accordance with Virginia Code § 15.2-2311. If you do not file a timely appeal, this determination shall be final and unappealable. An appeal may be taken only by filing an appeal application with the Zoning Administrator and the Board of Zoning Appeals, in accordance with § 34.3 of the Zoning Ordinance, along with a fee of $258 plus the actual cost of advertising the appeal for public hearing. December 16, 2019 Chick-Fil-A Parking Determination Page 2 Applications for Appeal of the Zoning Administrator's Determination are available at the Department of Community Development located at 401 McIntire Road, Charlottesville, Virginia 22902 or online at www.albemarle.org/cdapps. This form applies to the appeal of a decision of the zoning administrator or any other administrative officer pertaining to the Zoning Ordinance. Regulations pertaining to the filing of an appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals are located in Chapter 18, Section 34.3 of the Zoning Ordinance. They may be reviewed online at www.albemarle.ora/countvcodebza. (Please note that our online documents are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format and must be viewed with the Adobe Acrobat Reader or an equivalent. A link to download the free plug-in is available at the bottom of www.albemarle.org/cdapps.) Please contact me if you have questions or require additional information. Sincerely, Kevin McCollum Planner Designee to the Zoning Administrator Attachment: Report Supporting Request for Parking Reduction REPORT SUPPORTING REQUEST FOR PARKING REDUCTION AT 350 Woodbrook Drive Charlottesville, VA 22901 PREPARED FOR BY BOHLER E N G I N E E R I N G 28 Blackwell Park Lane, Suite 201 Warrenton, Virginia 20186 Contact: John Wright jwright@bohlereng.com Phone: (540) 349-4500 December 2, 2019 Introduction The purpose of this report is to justify the request to reduce the minimum number of required spaces for the Chick-fil-A at 350 Woodbrook Drive in Albemarle County per the requirements in Chapter 18, Section 4.12.2.0 of the Albemarle County Code. The site currently contains a free-standing restaurant building and 58 parking spaces. The site is bounded by the parking field for the adjacent Lowe's building Woodbrook Drive, and Route 29. The proposed improvements include adding a ±387 square -foot building addition, a second drive through lane, drive through canopies, and relocating the ADA spaces. The purpose of these improvements is to keep up with the growing demand for the drive through service option as drive through sales make up over half of the sales at this location. The increased drive through demand has caused stacking in the drive through to wrap around the building, blocking the spaces adjacent to the building. By replacing these parking spaces with additional stacking spaces in the drive through, Chick-fil-A will improve traffic circulation and reduce the number of conflict points by separating the drive through from the on -site spaces. Area Summary The use for the property is unchanged; fast food restaurant with drive through. The existing building is approximately 4,227 square feet. The proposed building addition and modifications add approximately 387 square feet to the existing building area. Therefore, the total gross floor area for the proposed building will be 4,614 square feet. Off -Street Parking Required Per Albemarle County Code Chapter 18, Section 4.12.6, the parking requirements for a restaurant use is 13 spaces per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area. Per Albemarle County Code Chapter 18, Section 5.1.60, the required stacking distance is 100 feet measured from the first service point. Proposed Parking Calculation: 4,614 SF * 1 , 000 SF spaces 1= 60.0 spaces Proposed Stacking Distance: Per the attached Exhibit A, both lanes contain 100 feet of stacking distance from the first service point for a total of 200 feet of provided stacking. Based on the calculation above, the required spaces for the proposed improvements will be 60 spaces. There are currently 52 spaces proposed on -site, which would be a 13% reduction to the minimum required spaces. Trip Generation The proposed building expansion is only for increased kitchen capacity and storage. No increase to the number of seats or customers are anticipated as a result of the addition. Therefore, the existing building area of 4,227 square feet is assumed for the basis of the trip generation. See next page for trip generation table. Table 1. Trip Generation for the Chick-fil-A Restaurant ITE Trip Generation — Weekday — I01h Edition Weekdav Land Use Daily Traffic AM Peak Hour PM Peak Hour (ITE Land Use Code) Size (vpd) (vph) (vph) Enter Exit Enter Exit Enter Exit Fast -Food Restaurant with Drive -Through Window 4,227 s.f. 994 994 86 84 72 06 934 ITE Pass -by Trips: Fast -Food — 49% AM 150% PM -492 -492 -41 -41 - 34 - 34 Net New PrimarN Trips 502 502 45 43 38 32 Alternative Solutions to On -Site Parkin Other solutions besides on -site parking consist of alternative means of transportation. A bike rack will be proposed near the entrance to promote further use of the bicycle commute option, an option that employees have utilized in the past. Charlottesville Area Transit Route 12 runs through the adjacent shopping center and has multiple stops within a quarter mile of the Chick-fil-A restaurant. Employees have also used the bus alternative to commute to work. The operator would be willing to consider incentivizing these alternatives to on -site parking to employees. A shared parking agreement with the adjacent Lowe's was pursued after the pre -application meeting for this project was held in September 2019. However, Lowe's has been unresponsive, and the shared parking agreement is not considered viable at this time. Discussion Per the attached Exhibit A, the five spaces adjacent to the north side of the building are being replaced with a second drive through lane that would add an additional six stacking spaces to the drive through. During peak service hours, the drive through stack can wrap around the building, extending beyond the parking stalls adjacent to the building. The increased stacking can prevent access to those spaces by customers, making them impractical during parts of the day. By replacing those ineffective spaces with the extra drive thru stacking lane, traffic circulation is improved, allowing customers to enter and exit the site more easily. The parking stalls adjacent to the building consist primarily of accessible spaces serving the Chick-fil-A By relocating these spaces and providing a well-defined crosswalk, access to the accessible spaces is improved. Customers do not have to contend with drive through traffic to enter or exit these spaces compared to the current conditions. By relocating the accessible spaces, the number of conflict points near the building have been reduced, which should improve traffic circulation and safety. The site is bordered by Route 29 and Woodbrook Drive to the east and south. Both sides are characterized by substantial, existing landscape buffers. To the north, the site is adjacent to parking for the adjacent Lowe's building. An agreement for cross -parking with the Lowe's was pursued initially but efforts to negotiate were unsuccessful. The site is bounded to the west by the existing shopping center access drive. Given these site constraints, additional on -site spaces are not feasible. Conclusion The replacement of the ineffective, on -site parking stalls adjacent to the building with stacking spaces will help alleviate drive thru stacking around the building and bottlenecks at the site entrance and near the existing parking stalls around the perimeter of the site. Relocation of accessible spaces will also reduce the number of conflict points which will improve circulation and customer safety. Given the benefits to public safety and customer experience created by these improvements, the potential for alternative transportation use, and a lack of alternative on -site parking options, Chick-fil-A is requesting a 13% reduction to the minimum number of parking spaces required from 60 spaces to 52 spaces. 4 8 w s \ h\ PROP TIER 3 F2F CANOPY 12)I �1 ~ 15 _ l 9. 71;-PROP BUILDING ADDITION POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS- TO OFF SITE DRIVE AISLE ® RB —PROP TIER 30MD CANOPY b� -A 1\(iTi a ILSa MLOP BUILDING ADDITION REQUIRED PARKING SPACES = 13 PER 1,000 GSF EXISTING BUILDING AREA = 4,227 SF PROP BUILDING ADDITION AREA = t3137 SF TOTAL BUILDING AREA = 4,614 SF = 4.614 SF X 13 / 1,000 = 60 SPACES REQUIRED PROVIDED PARKING SPACES = 52 SPACES'• PROVIDED STACKING DISTANCE = 100 FEET "SUBMIT TRAFFIC STUDY TO REDUCE MINIMUM NUMBER OF REQUIRED SPACES ' U-CT""'"` CHICK-FIL-A WOODBROOK - STORE #1856 350 WOODBROOK DRIVE ALBEMARLE COUNTY VIRGINIA to IM BOHLER EXHIBIT A E N G I N E E R I N G 28 BIACKWELL PARK LANE, SUITE 201 WARRENTON. VA 201116 SCALE DATE aeaec-wrasea. __ PNONE: (540) 34945DO FAX 1540) 3490321 1 1.= rm 1— �", can 0 �,.,,