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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTACO BELL RESTAURANT 9.27.1990 NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING - 51-90 - MINUTES/NOTES - CORRESPONDENCE-NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGNEIGHBORHOOD MEETING MINUTES PROJECT: Taco Bell at Prospect and College P.U.D. APPLICANT: Les Nordhagen, Taco Bell REPRESENTATIVE: Al Hauser, Architecture One DATE: September 27, 1990 PROJECT PLANNER: Ted Shepard QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, COMMENTS 1. Does the site plan illustrate the proposed right turn lane on westbound Prospect? If not, how will the new lane impact the landscaped area? RESPONSE: This plan is the same plan that was taken to Conceptual Review. It does not indicate the new lane. The new lane will likely be 12' wide, so there will be a 12 foot reduction in the area available for landscaping on Prospect. 2. How far east would the new lane go? All the way to Remington? RESPONSE: No, it would begin at the eastern point of the Taco Bell property or at the eastern point of the alley. There would be no dedication asked of the property at the northwest corner of Prospect and Remington (1535 Remington). 3. Where in Longmont is the similar store? RESPONSE: It is located on the Diagonal Highway (119) in front of the Twin Peaks Mall. The exterior brick matches the mall and the use of stucco is reduced. Also, the "mission bell tower" look is minimized in favor of a small arch over the entry doors. 4. How will the access off of Prospect work? How will the alley be used? RESPONSE: The current plan shows a curb cut on Prospect that is combined with the alley. This allows only one cut on Prospect. The alley width is widened to accommodate a larger volume of vehicles. 5. Cars going east on Prospect wanting to turn left into the site cause a tremendous jam. This is terribly inconvenient. I've seen traffic in the lane jammed up back to the railroad tracks while some driver tries to turn left against the westbound traffic. This left turn should not be allowed. RESPONSE: This is a condition that was pointed out by City Staff at Conceptual Review. A Traffic Impact Analysis will be conducted to study this condition. It has been mentioned that the only real way to prevent these left turns is to build a median in Prospect but there is not enough room to do this. The results of the Traffic Impact Analysis will be submitted to the City for evaluation. 6. I've heard that the College and Prospect intersection is the first or second busiest intersection in the City: Since I live in the area, I can tell you that there are a lot of accidents. The Police Department should be asked to provide statistics on the number of accidents in this area. It seems that your proposal would compound one of the busiest areas in town. RESPONSE: A component of the Traffic Impact Analysis is to do an accident analysis on the surrounding streets. This information should be made available. 7. What is the distance from the alley to College/Prospect intersection? RESPONSE: Approximately 166 feet. 8. It looks to me like the alley would become attractive for people using Lake Street to drive south through the alley to get to the site. RESPONSE: To a certain extent, this is being done already. It is not an obvious access and is only used by a small percentage of customers. 9. We are very concerned about vandalism, trash, litter, noise, and the hours of operation on weekends. We often do not get a full night of sleep due to the disturbances in the restaurant parking lot. Kids loiter in the lot and blare their car stereos which are very powerful, especially the bass which seems to travel very far and through the walls of our well-built home. 10. We have complained to your organization about the late night disturbances and have received no response. Your secretary has been very insensitive to our calls and will not patch us through to Mr. Cook. This demonstrates to us that your organization does not care about being a good neighbor. 11. The trouble usually starts around midnight as kids are getting out of the bars, particularly Fort Ram. Taco Bell is known as being the "after bar hang out". This is the first summer this has happened. We notice kids parking on Remington and there is public intoxication, rowdyism, and shouting as they travel to and from the restaurant. This obnoxious behavior is an intrusion on people and children who attempt to lead a normal life. The worst part is that repeated calls to your office has resulted in nothing. 12. The problem is not with college kids but with high school and junior high kids. I think it is a result of the City closing down "cruising" in the downtown area. The cruising did not get diminished downtown, it simply got shoved into other areas and neighborhoods. Certainly the hours of operation and the lack of discouraging the hanging out has caused the problems. 13. We recognize we live next to College Avenue in a commercial area but Taco Bell is the only offending neighbor. Why can't Taco Bell discourage loitering? Is it because you arc too greedy? 14. If the late night disturbances continue, then property owners will eventually move out. It is likely that owner -occupied homes will convert to student rental and maintenance will fall to a lower standard. Lawns will deteriorate, cars will be parked on the front lawn, and furniture and trash will line the streets. This is a classic cycle of urban decay. RESPONSE: Taco Bell acknowledges that this summer has been worst for the general level of rowdyism. We have hired off -duty police officers to help out with security. We are indeed sensitive to the concerns of residents and apologize about the lack of response. This will be corrected. It is unfortunate that our restaurant has become hang out for kids. We will try to correct this situation. Our store in Greeley was once considered a hang out and we cleaned it up by enforcing the no loitering rules. Customers must be actually eating or drinking our food or be asked to vacate the premises. 15. 1 have surveyed 34 restaurants in Fort Collins for their hours of operation. The results are as follows: Four restaurants are open 24 hours but these are standard, not fast food stores. 14 fast food restaurants close at 11:00 P.M. or earlier. 7 fast food restaurants close at midnight. 2 fast food restaurants close at 1:00 A.M. Only Taco Bell stays open until 2:00 A.M. on Thursdays and 3:00 on weekends. It is my conclusion that Taco Bell, unlike its competition, invites the late night disturbances by staying open very late which encourages rowdyism. RESPONSE: It is true that we stay open late based on customer demand. Our store makes approximately $500 per hour between 11:00 P.M. and closing time on weekends. It is very profitable for us to serve this market. 16. The neighborhood is asking that you consider the late night problems as a "cost" of doing business. This cost is corporate good will and corporate citizenship. Other fast food restaurants have indicated they are not willing to pay this cost. Taco Bell seems to have no problem with taking profits without accounting for the true cost that is spilling over and being borne by the residents instead of Taco Bell. The issue is one of corporate ethics and a true accounting of the cost of doing business. RESPONSE: Taco Bell is aware of the cost of doing business and will asses the financial impact of closing down earlier. 17. The fence on the east side of the property should be six to eight feet in height to screen noise and trash. RESPONSE: This fence has not been designed yet pending this neighborhood meeting. Taco Bell is prepared to construct a fence that meets the resident's needs. We are thinking about a solid brick or masonry fence for at least the first four feet and maybe higher. We don't think a height greater than eight feet would be attractive but we are prepared to go that high. 18. Jack -In -The -Box sends out its employees into the surrounding neighborhood to pick up the paper cups, bags, wrappers, etc. Why can't Taco Bell do this? RESPONSE: We are supposed to be doing this already. I will talk to the manager to make sure this practice is reinstated on a regular basis. 19. There are problems with the trash coming from the dumpster area. First, some employees do not bother opening up the access door and just throw the plastic bags over the door. They often miss the dumpster enclosure completely and trash gets all over the neighborhood. Second, the lids to the dumpster are often left open so odors escape and trash escapes. This practice.-) represents sloppy management and monitoring of employees and yet has a neighborhood impact. RESPONSE: These problems will be addressed. 20. The signage associated with Taco Bell is garish. The combination of the temporary banners, the window decals, and the pole sign all add up to visual clutter. 21. Can the existing house be re -adapted to accommodate a Taco Bell operation or at least part of the operation? Is it necessary to remove the building? RESPONSE: Our architectural consultant has investigated this possibility. It would be extremely difficult to create enough open area for the kitchen equipment and the dining area without impacting load bearing walls. In order to use the building, the structure would have to be remodeled beyond recognition. 22. Taco Bell should be aware that McDonald's recently established a restaurant in a restored historic structure in Freeport, Maine. It would not be impossible to take advantage of the existing structure. RESPONSE: We agree it would not be impossible but extremely impractical and not cost effective. 23. What do you predict would be the percentage increase in customer traffic by going to the 80 seat facility? RESPONSE: We predict the increase would be around 25%. 24. About how many customers do you have per week? RESPONSE: We do about 9,000 transactions per week which we translate to about 13,500 customers per week. 25. What are your peak hours of operation? RESPONSE: Our lunch peak is from 11:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. and our evening peak is from 11:00 P.M. to 2:00 A.M. 26. We do not have any basic objections to a fast food restaurant at this location but are more interested in the hours of operation. Would you consider closing your interior from 11:00 P.M. to 2:00 or 3:00 A.M. and just serve customers through the drive-thru windows? This may reduce the hanging out. RESPONSE: We may consider partial closure beginning at a later hour and rely only on the drive-thru. We will have to analyze the options and are not prepared to commit at this time. 27. Taco Bell should realize that the citizens here today are sincere. They are not making these stories up about the rowdyism. On the other hand, we all know that you are in business to make a profit. It would seem that your best investment in the long run would be to solve the problems at hand within your ability to still turn a profit. I believe that you have that latitude. You cannot continue to operate with these kinds of neighborhood problems in the long term. RESPONSE: Thank you for this comment. These factors will be considered. 28. How would you prevent a left turn in off Prospect without a median? RESPONSE: Restricted left turns would have to be marked with appropriate signage and pavement striping. 29. Is the sewer line adequate to handle the additional waste? What about grease disposal? What about other utilities? RESPONSE: Currently, the restaurant operates without a grease trap. A new store would be required to install a grease trap on the sanitary sewer line. Overhead electrical power lines would be placed underground as part of the City's undergrounding program. All utility upgrades would be reviewed by the City. 30. Combining your curb cut with the existing alley, will put the residents who use the alley at a disadvantage. These residents will have to compete with the incoming restaurant traffic to exit onto Prospect. RESPONSE: Again, the Traffic Impact Analysis will provide data on the feasibility of full turn movements at the Prospect curb cut. If this curb cut is restricted to right -in and right -out only, then the competition in the alley will be reduced. 31. Who is the store manager and what is the phone number? If Taco Bell wants to be a good neighbor, then it must start being responsive to the residents. RESPONSE: The manager is Kim Kilgore and the phone number is 482-4059. 32. 1 represent the owners of the property immediately north. It appears that the cars exiting the drive-thru lane will come few feet of the shared property line. This may be a concern to our clients. Steps need to be taken to ensure that the Taco Bell operation does not negatively impact this adjacent property. RESPONSE: This is a good comment. Taco Bell is willing to install fencing and landscaping that will be satifactory to both parties. In addition to calling Kim Kilgore, Taco Bell can be reached at 663-4810. Thank you very much for your comments. m PROJECT: / i/C & LL i Gjc- TYPE OF MEETING: AI E/GH A0A H000 2,i Pot MgTionl DATE: ��- �� /9 96 ADDRESS DID You RECEIVE WRITTEN NOTIFICATION YES/NO ? ARC You q,j I OWNER oe vat)NAME RED /T 1-A11V,(TV orrcT/ /LtoOt<' /L .?y �^10 e.�cc: /mo o efs� /S/S .er,1i1/NG 76N YES y ,461're 0�Se&) /(COS �emfrn joti% j Its SemL 9 yF-S �� S YES pt s S. 1)e - I` Y42 s V12 Sf o cr o� /�'LLQ <*-� D � l ` �o✓i�sah ��, ,ss6S �/� S it/'O yens 0 —_ avi A- S4 o&s I I I yes rPs ��-