HomeMy WebLinkAboutPINECONE PUD THE TOWER SHOPPES SONIC DRIVE IN PRELIMINARY - 60 91N - MEDIA - CORRESPONDENCESonic Succeeds... Sort Of
Sonic Restaurant Acquires Zoning Change for Drive-in, But Drive -through Fast Food Still Out of Luck
by Angeline Grenz
Forum Correspondent
Fort Collins Sonic franchise
owner, David Beard, has been
granted the fast step towards his
quest to build another drive-in
restaurant in Fort Collins, with a
council -approved zoning change.
Now the owner faces a new fight
over design standards, as the city
remains restrictive in allowing
auto -related uses in much of Fort
Collins' zoning.
Fort Collins is a sizeable town
for most. But when David Beard
and son, Scott, began looking for
a location for a second franchise,
suddenly Fort Collins seemed
rather small. With most zoning
within the city prohibiting drive-
in and drive -through restaurants,
the Beards were unable to find an
affordable, available site. In
November, the Beards requested
the city change the zoning in
Neighborhood Commercial
Districts (NCD) to allow drive-in
restaurants, giving them more
locations throughout Fort Collins
to choose from.
Under city code, restaurants are
divided into three types: stan-
dard, fast food, and drive-in,
which include drive -through.
Within the city, drive-in and
drive -through are only allowed in
commercial zoning, mainly along
College Avenue, and, when
located in a convenience shop-
ping center, within an
Employment Park District.
For the Beards, redeveloping a
site along College Avenue was
not cost-effective. They began to
look at Neighborhood
Commercial Districts, which are
scattered throughout Fort Collins
and areintended as mixed -use,
commercial core areas that meet
the demands of consumers for
frequently needed goods and ser-
vices. Even within the nineteen
neighborhood districts, nine are
completely filled and only three
or four have ideal locations for
his business, said Scott Beard. In
SONIC
from page 1
busy streets. Scott Beard estimates that as
many as 95% of his drive-in customers
turn off their cars as they wait to be served,
rather than leaving their engines running
as they may at banks and other drive-
throughs. Beard adds that the original pur-
pose of City Plan, to reduce the amount of
vehicles by promoting alternate modes of
transportation and these neighborhood
areas, has done little to discourage people
from hopping in their cars when they want
a burger from their favorite fast food
restaurant across town.
The Planning and Zoning Board agreed
when the Beards went before them to
request a change in zoning to allow drive-
in restaurants in neighborhood commercial
districts. On November 18, they voted 4 to
2 in favor of allowing the change to the
code. Board member Jerry Gavaldon com-
mented at the meeting, "we need to quit
bashing the automobile It's a tool and its
not going away."
Council upheld the decision at their
December 21 council meeting, but stated
the last year and a half, accord-
ing to city planner Ted Shepard,
the last two drive -through restau-
rants he has worked with have
been redevelopment sites on
College Avenue.
The Beards felt the purpose of
the NCDs fit well with their fast
food restaurant, which generally
provides indoor and outdoor
seating, as well as drive-in ser-
vice. Beard also reasons that
allowing these neighborhood
districts to have drive-in and
drive -through fast food in their
commercial areas would actually
cut down on the amount of traffic
on College Avenue and other
see SONIC page 10
that the approval was subject to design
standards. These standards will be set by
the P&Z Board in 'January and go before
council for their first reading on February 1.
While the Beards have the zoning
changes they wanted, they fear the design
standards may be another hurdle to jump.
The problem hinges on a requirement that
the drive-in restaurant must have an indoor
dining room. The Beards, while planning
indoor seating at their location under con-
tract at Timberline and Horsetooth roads,
want to retain the option to forego indoor
seating at other areas. They feel their out-
door seating and drive-in service would be
sufficient. Shepard argues that a restaurant
with no indoor seating would not match
the purpose of a neighborhood commercial
district.
Originally, the Beards had planned to
petition the city to allow drive -through fast
food in neighborhood commercial districts
as well. They quickly rejected the idea
feeling it would only increase city staff's
resistance. Sonic is the only fast food
restaurant that comes to mind, that still
uses a drive-in format, said Shepard.