Concept plans for a Chardon Meijer store are inching forward, as representatives from the company appeared before Chardon Planning Commission at their Sept. 24 meeting seeking final development design approval.
Concept plans for a Chardon Meijer store are inching forward, as representatives from the company appeared before Chardon Planning Commission at their Sept. 24 meeting seeking final development design approval.
Senior Real Estate Manager Cris Jones and engineers Abby Jacobs and Brian Smallwood, who appeared in an informal capacity before the commission in May, also sought approval for nine variances, 11 sign deviations and a conditional use for a gas station.
“What you have before you this evening is a request for final development plan approval for a Meijer, which is a 159,935-square-foot grocery retail store,” Community Development Administrator Steve Yaney explained to the commission. “Along with it is a 3,373-square-foot mExpress gas station.”
Everything on the site will require architectural review approval, he added.
“To approve the plan as submitted this evening, all nine variances and 11 sign deviations would have to be approved or modified in some way,” Yaney said.
Meijer’s Updates
Jacobs began with a review of Meijer’s offerings, noting changes from the original proposal as she reached them.
The supercenter — to be located at the intersection of Water Street and Loreto Drive — would offer general merchandise and include a garden center, pharmacy drive-through and online pickup area, while the gas station would sport a convenience store and six double-sided fuel pumps.
“A traffic impact study was completed that identifies necessary roadway improvements and drive entrance configurations along Water Street and Loreto Drive,” Jacobs said. “We’ve been working through that with the city’s review.”
Stormwater management will be handled through two wet stormwater basins set on the east and west sides of the site, she said, noting additional stormwater quality treatment will occur in environmental catch basins in the gas station parking lot.
Jacobs highlighted an increase in landscaping on the site plan to meet the city’s zoning code.
In terms of the store’s architecture, Jacobs said cornice and additional color variation has been added to the front and sides of the building for visual interest. The size of the Meijer logo on the front has also been reduced by about 80%.
Cornice and color variation was also added to the design of the convenience store, she said, and banding around the gas station canopy was revised from blue to white and gray.
Variance Requests
Jacobs explained each variance requested by the store, including the increase in maximum height of a fence in the rear yard from 6 to 8 feet.
“Those (areas) are the outdoor storage area, the organics bins with organic food waste and the electrical yard that are immediately adjacent to the building,” she said, adding equipment in those areas reaches up to 7 feet high, requiring taller screening.
Jacobs also specified the variance only applied to the fence in the specific area she was discussing — fences in other areas could remain as they were.
Meijer requested two variances from the city’s lighting regulations, including that some outdoor light fixtures and signs remain operational for 24 hours. While a typical Meijer and mExpress operate from 6 a.m. to midnight, Jacobs said gas will be sold 24 hours per day.
Meijer also has third-shift employees and overnight deliveries, Jones added.
The store’s outdoor lighting can be controlled from their corporate office, he said, adding they like to provide a well-lit pathway to employees’ cars.
“The light that remains on, in my mind, is a safety feature for our employees,” he said.
Lights in the entire parking lot will not be on overnight and the only signs left on would be on the gas station, he said.
Employees could be told to park in a specific area, with only those lights left on, Jones said.
Meijer also asked to increase the maximum commercial driveway width from 35 feet to 50 feet.
“You can see the driveways in red up there that are greater than the 35 feet. Only one of those is 50 feet wide,” Jacobs said, adding they were designed to accommodate trucks turning.
New truck drivers often need to get to know a site and may accidentally use a driveway not intended for truck deliveries, Jones said, adding Meijer would like to provide enough room for a driver to turn their truck.
Meijer asked to reduce the amount of required parking spaces for the store from 640 to 481, and increase parking at the mExpress from 17 spaces to 18. The store also asked to change the sizing of the parking bays.
The commission passed all variances unanimously, as well as the conditional use for the gas station.
It also approved a sign deviation to increase the maximum height of both the north- and south-facing gas station signs and an increase in size for the store’s exterior walls signs.
The commission allowed only one monument-style sign for the mExpress site.
With the architectural review not moving forward, final development plan approval could not happen that evening, Blackley said.
Jones said Meijer would aim to reappear at the next regular meeting in October.
