Old Burger King to Become Chipotle
Plans for a Chardon Chipotle took a step forward at the June 25 Chardon Planning Commission meeting, with the board approving concept plans to renovate the former Burger King at 414 Water Street.
Plans for a Chardon Chipotle took a step forward at the June 25 Chardon Planning Commission meeting, with the board approving concept plans to renovate the former Burger King at 414 Water Street.
Applicant Cardinal Realty is looking to fully gut and remodel the inside of the 3,998-square foot building, Community Development Administrator Steve Yaney explained, adding the playground would be removed and turned into part of the dining space, and exterior renovations would include the removal of several parking spaces to make room for a patio.
There will also be a drive-through window called the “chipotlane,” Yaney said.
“It is only a pick-up window, so there is no loud speaker or menu board,” he said, explaining it would be used for call-ahead and online orders.
Residents can also expect to see a change in the building’s color, going from its current sandy shade to Chipotle’s classic grays and whites.
“On the southwest corner of the site, there is a bump-out for the bike path area,” commission Chair Andrew Blackley said, looking over the plans. “Is that contained in an easement already?”
City Engineer Doug Courtney confirmed it is, adding he does not foresee an increase in stormwater runoff from the proposed plans.
The commission voted to approve the concept plans.
“Welcome, Chipotle,” Blackley said.
In other business, the commission finally approved concept plans for a Washington Street bus garage for Chardon Schools.
This marked applicant ThenDesign Architecture’s third time appearing before the commission. The commission had tabled concept plan approval twice, with the lack of a comprehensive traffic impact study a key factor in both cases. While the city had been provided the study as of a special meeting June 11, it lacked the background data required for an outside source to verify its findings.
“We did get the traffic impact study last week, the full traffic impact study rather than the summary,” Courtney said. “I reviewed it, our traffic engineer Kevin Westbrooks has reviewed it and our conclusions from that report are that a traffic signal is warranted at 5th Avenue today, actually.”
The added bus traffic from Washington Street would increase its necessity, he said.
Westbrooks added turn lanes and an all-way stop were considered, but wouldn’t work as well in solving the problems with congestion.
Along with a stop light at the intersection, he recommended a pedestrian crossing.
“Today, you don’t even have a crossing going across North Street,” Westbrooks said. “You get crosswalks going across North, across 5th, hit the button, hit the signals, it would be a much safer crossing location.”
The intersection is greatly impacted by traffic heading to the school campus, he added.
“Those are the peak times when there’s the most traffic going through. I don’t know exactly which cars are going to the school and which are not just from the data,” he said.
Vice Chair Mary Jo Stark found the idea of a light at that intersection problematic.
“I use that intersection a lot. Yes, traffic is bad and that probably does perform on the level of service F two hours a day. The other 22 hours a day it performs very well,” she said. “Maybe level of service A or B. I can’t justify a traffic light at that intersection for two hours a day, five days a week, 180 days a year.”
While the light may slow someone down a little bit outside of peak hours, as long as it’s programmed properly, people should not be held up at the intersection, Westbrooks replied.
“I guess that’s a judgment call each of you will probably have to make. Is the traffic bad enough during those peak times to need it, or do you suffer through the current operations plus a little bit more traffic and not put a signal in,” he said.
The study also did not take traffic on Chardon Avenue into account, Stark said.
“Traffic on Chardon Avenue backs up and the majority of those people are turning left from Chardon going south onto North (Street),” she said. “How is that street going to be affected by a traffic light, especially one that’s right on North Street?”
While traffic may start to back up, it shouldn’t reach the point Stark was concerned about, Westbrooks said.
“It shouldn’t really change the operation of that intersection,” he told her.
Stark said she would like to see more study before committing to something like a light.
The commission voted to approve the concept plans, which indicated traffic control devices must be installed by Aug. 31, 2027.
