The Cookeville Board of Zoning Appeals will consider a variance for a proposed coffee shop Thursday night on Willow Avenue across from the new Home Depot/Target.
Cookeville Community Development Director Jon Ward said the variance would eliminate a bypass lane for the drive-thru. Ward said the city’s ordinance requires a minimum 12-foot-wide lane where traffic can avoid drive-thrus. Ward said variances are sometimes approved if a property owner faces a hardship.
“It’s an existing lot, they were trying to get property off of an adjacent lot that was gonna be involved in this, you know it wasn’t a building that was designed to have a drive-thru, and you know, I think that’s why they are having trouble finding a design that meets our standards,” Ward said.
Ward said every drive-thru that has been constructed since the city implemented the ordinance has met the bypass lane requirement. However, Ward said some older drive-thrus throughout Cookeville do not meet the ordinance.
“A good example is Taco Bell on Jefferson,” Ward said. “It doesn’t have a bypass lane, so if you are in that queue lane, you are pretty much stuck there, you know, past a certain point until you make it out of the queue lane.”
Ward said the city does not often receive variance requests regarding the bypass lane ordinance. Ward said the Board of Zoning Appeals will have to consider carefully.
“You should have some type of hardship, right,” Ward said. “Something that is out of your control, something specific to the lot, you know, topography, or an irregular lot shape, or something like that. You know, it’s a careful consideration to even consider something like that should even be approved.”
Ward said should the variance be approved, the request would not need to go to another committee or the City Council. The Cookeville Board of Zoning Appeals will vote on the variance request at 5:15pm this Thursday. The meeting will be held in the council chambers at Cookeville City Hall.
