By Mark Carlisle
Twitter: @mwcarlisle

Glendale Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit for a proposed Dutch Bros in north Glendale allowing the coffee shop to have a drive-thru. The approval green lights the coffee chain to install its first location in north Glendale and second in the city, joining a shop near Westgate Entertainment District.

Bill Cantieri, director of design and development for Piazza Restaurant and Development who represented Dutch Bros in the Planning Commission’s Thursday, April 2 tele-meeting, said the Dutch Bros planned near 59th Avenue and Bell Road has been in the works for a long time.

“We are, first off, excited about a chance to put a second location into Glendale,” Mr. Cantieri said. “We have one store currently open in the entertainment district. That’s been very well received. And we’ve been looking for about five years, trying to find a spot along Bell Road, and we are thankful to finally find this opportunity.”

The property is already zoned for commercial use, but the Planning Commission needs to approve a conditional use permit to allow for a dual-lane drive-thru at the shop.

The commission allowed the conditional use permit by a 5-1 vote. The vote is final and does not need to be sent to City Council for further approval. Ocotillo District Commissioner Warren Wilfong was absent for the meeting. Yucca District Commissioner Martin Nowakowski was the lost no vote, citing concerns about traffic from the drive-thru disrupting the surrounding businesses.

“Right now, Mr. Chair, I do have concerns on traffic flow,” Mr. Nowakowski said just before the vote to the commission’s chairman, Mayoral/Cactus District Commissioner, Gary Hirsch.

The proposed Dutch Bros site is in a shopping center anchored by a Winco Foods. The shop would be built on existing parking spaces between a BBVA Compass bank to the west and a Diamond Kitchen & Bath and a Salon Boutique to the east.

Drive-thru overflow

The site plan for the Dutch Bros location would have traffic enter at the west, with the drive-thru entrance at the southeast. The drive-thru curls around the coffee shop, exiting at the southwest. The plans have the southeast opening to the property being exit only, to ensure that traffic into the drive-thru only comes from one direction, the west, and so the line doesn’t run the risk of backing up onto Bell Road.

The commission attached three stipulations to their approval of the conditional use permit, all regarding the property’s southeast opening:

1. Add striping/one-way arrow and a painted “exit only” at the southeast opening.
2. Locate “do not enter” signs on both sides of the southeast opening.
3. The opening of the east exit shall be limited to 14 feet.

Mr. Nowakowski’s main concern was that overflow from the drive-thru could encroach on the surrounding businesses’ property, namely, the bank to the west because cars would be entering from that direction.

Mr. Cantieri said Dutch Bros does not want overflow and had taken steps to address it. He said Dutch Bros wants “to do everything we can to make sure that we don’t overflow and can contain the use within our property and still be good neighbors.”

Dutch Bros site plan shows 32 cars able to fit in the dual-lane drive-thru without overflowing. Mr. Cantieri noted city code only requires a line able to hold seven cars. Mr. Cantieri said a Dutch Bros employee stands in the drive-thru, taking orders on an iPad. If the line begins to get long, he said, a second employee comes out to also take orders to speed up the process. If the line starts to overflow past the drive-thru entrance, a third employee will come out to direct any additional cars to park rather than add to the drive-thru line, Mr. Cantieri said.

Mr. Nowakowski asked if Dutch Bros would be willing to hire security to direct traffic if their traffic becomes a problem for the other businesses. Mr. Cantieri said the company had hired a third-party company at locations in the past “if it becomes a consistent issue.”

Concern with Bell Road

Though the commission stipulated that Dutch Bros make it clear that no cars can enter at the southeast opening to prevent drive-thru overflow from backing up onto Bell Road, Mr. Nowakowski was also concerned about cars exiting through that opening. He noted that the adjacent driveway is one of the most common entrances and exits to the shopping center from Bell Road.

Mr. Nowakowski asked if it were possible to push the Dutch Bros exit further back into the lot where it wouldn’t be fronting Bell Road. Mr. Cantieri said his team and the city’s Transportation Department had considered having cars enter the drive-thru at the northwest, exiting at northeast of the site, pushed back from the Bell Road entrance. However, this setup would have caused any drive-thru overflow to disrupt surrounding businesses, rather than keeping it on Dutch Bros’ property.

Parking

The other issue was where the bank, salon and kitchen and bath store employees and customers would park with Dutch Bros taking over their regular parking spaces.

“The Dutch Brothers (sic) is pretty much going to take up all the parking that they use now,” said Cactus District Commissioner Vern Crow. “So, they’re going to have to move to the north into Winco’s parking lot, because they don’t have enough spaces on the west side of their building. I mean, they don’t have anywhere else to go but into Winco.”

Mr. Cantieri and Interim Development Services Director Lisa Collins both clarified that there is “cross-parking,” or businesses sharing parking spaces, in the Winco center. In normal at Winco, there are plenty of spaces available at the back of its lot.

Winco has a right of refusal for every new use in the shopping center, Mr. Cantieri said, and has reviewed and approved of Dutch Bros site plan.

“They’re aware of our layout and the potential impact that we could have to other tenants in the shopping center,” Mr. Cantieri said.

Mark Carlisle
Associate Editor | Daily Independent
@mwcarlisle

mcarlisle@iniusa.org

Mark is passionate about accurately informing his readers to what is happening in their community. He also loves reading and writing about sports. Mark has worked for Independent Newsmedia for five years. He married his high school sweetheart, adopted a boxer mix, and awaits his first child.