Board reviews latest Starbucks plans
Traffic ‘stacking’ in drive-through discussed
TOWAMENCIN >> Township officials now have a much clearer idea of what a planned Starbucks store next to the Marriott hotel on Sumneytown Pike could look like.
The team behind the proposed Starbucks made the case Wednesday night for a conditional use approval, showing the latest layout and design for the planned drivethrough restaurant.
“It is clear that this use is compatible with the current uses, and in terms of traffic, will not cause any adverse impact on any surrounding property,” said attorney Carl Weiner.
Developer Philadelphia Suburban Development Corp. first presented their plans for the Starbucks in April, showing a new standalone restaurant and drive-through on the corner just south of their Marriott hotel, near the in
tersection of Sumneytown Pike and Towamencin Avenue. Concerns about traffic stacking were addressed at the board’s June 12 meeting, and in July the board voted to allow staff to prepare and advertise a code change allowing the new use. That code change was approved in September, and Weiner and attorney John Anderson walked the board through the next step Wednesday: a conditional use hearing to allow the drive-through under those new rules.
“As the testimony will bear out, the proposed use meets the specific use requirements in the ordinance, relating to the drivethrough,” Weiner said.
As they spoke, he and Anderson showed the board a map of the site, with access to the Starbucks linked to the adjacent hotel parking
lot, and connections to Sumneytown Pike or Towamencin Avenue via an internal driveway running through the property. The overall Marriott property is about 5.1 acres, and the Starbucks area is about 0.22 acres, with the building planned to be about 2,500 square feet and surrounded by a drive-through lane capable of stacking 13 cars.
Original plans for the complex included a proposal for a restaurant of roughly 3,500 square feet on that site, Anderson said, and data from similar Starbucks locations has shown maximum drive-through queue stacking of eight to ten cars at peak hours, with each car taking roughly 45 seconds to drive through and receive their order. The building itself would be faced with brick and tan stone, decorated with the green Starbucks logo, with a peaked roof meant to match the surrounding buildings in the overlay area.
“Above the main roof section would be a tower element, that would be a shingled roof, or other roofing materiel that would blend in with the existing structures,” Anderson said.
Inside the building, roughly 958 square feet of the rectangular building would be allocated to a seating area for 43 seats, with two restrooms at the end, and the remaining 1,651 square feet set aside for kitchen and employee spaces. Six employees would work there per shift, and Anderson said current township codes would require a total of 38 parking spaces, based on the employee and customer calculations, while the surrounding parking lot for the Marriott and along Towamencin Avenue contains a total of over 600 spaces.
Planned hours of operation would be from 5 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays,
and 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays. Trash storage for the Starbucks would be shared with the Marriott, which would be buffered by a wall between the trash area and the drive-through.
“What we’re proposing is a four-foot-high masonry wall, that would connect to the existing brick wall on the back of the trash enclosure for the Marriott hotel, and extend around the perimeter of the drivethrough,” Anderson said.
“We think that’s an added feature that could be a compromise, if the board is willing to grant the waiver request,” he said.
Supervisors Chairman Chuck Wilson asked if the applicants had done any analysis of whether trash and delivery trucks could fit through the driveway, and Anderson said they had, with an exhibit in their application showing how a tractor-trailer could access the loading area. Starbucks does not use large tractortrailers for deliveries, Anderson
told the board, but rather smaller box trucks that could easily fit the site, and visit once per day.
“They schedule it outside their operational hours; it can be between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.,” he said.
Traffic engineer Ben Guthrie added testimony that the project would generate an estimated 117 new trips during weekday morning peak hours, and an additional 55 new trips during weekday evening peak hours.
“That does tend to double-count: if there’s one entering, and ten minutes later that same one exiting, so the numbers are a little higher than I think will be experienced in reality,” he said.
In response to a resident question, Guthrie added that his firm, Traffic Planning & Design, derived those numbers from observing traffic counts at similar Starbucks facilities.
“In our experience, the average max queue is eight, with the highest being ten vehicles at any one time,” Guthrie said.
After the testimony concluded, township solicitor Jack Dooley said the board would render an opinion on the conditional use request in accordance with state codes, likely within an upcoming board meeting.
Supervisor Laura Smith added a compliment for the design: “Thanks for bringing a beautiful building. Kudos,” she said.
Wilson added afterward that the applicant would still need to secure land development approval from the board if the conditional use is granted, but hinted at his own opinion.
“I think their design for that is great. I think it’ll fit in well,” Wilson said.