Loading...
Item 7C - Applicant's Response to Lee Engineering TIA Review #2 - 08-30-2021Southlake Coffee Responses G. The trip generation table provided with the TIA threshold worksheet identifies a coffee shop with 2,350 square feet and a retail portion of the building with 2,322 square feet. If the coffee shop is larger, this will result in a slightly higher drive -through demand than shown in the previous traffic study. Additionally, as stated above, the site plan shows a larger building size at this tirne_ Please provide a final study that matches the site plan sizes, Square footage has been revised in the resubmittal. LEE has been unable to verify the trip generation results shown in the TIA threshold worksheet using the latest edition (10"') of ITE Trip Generation- We calculated different values for all land uses_ It is also unclear what is being considered as the peak hour in the provided table, as the peak ingress volume for the gas station appears to be for the PM peak hour and the peak ingress volume for the coffee shop appears to be for the AM peak hour. Please Confirm calculations and specify what design hour is being provided_ The trip generation attachment to the TIA worksheet was based on an older edition of ITE. The resubmitted worksheet contains the 10th edition trips with average rate or best fit used where appropriate. S. If the percentage of traffic accessing the site via the drive-thru is higher than estimated in the queuing study, then the queue is likely to spill back far enough to conflict with traffic accessing the site from White Chapel_ This would indicate the need for a longer throat depth at the southern White Chapel driveway, or a different queue configuration_ Absent count data specific to the coffee shop showing % cf drive-thru or in-store traffic, the assumption based on ITE pass -by percentage may be the only information available. LEE still believes the percent of drive-thru traffic to be higher but doesn't not have a data source to recommend at this time. • As the percentage increase, the queue lengths predicted will increase_ No action needed. It should be noted that the site plan shows storage for eleven vehicles, with an additional 260 feet of storage internal to the site. 9. An issue associated with the site is how the driveway ordinance gets applied in a situation like this where an existing driveway is being connected to an existing site. Ultimately any decision or recommended action relative to the application of the ordinance falls to the city. • The existing driveways do not appear to comply with the driveway ordinance due to spacing constraints and possibly throat depths_ A variance was likely granted during the original development of the site though LEE is unaware of the official record at this time - No action needed. • The City of Southlake Driveway Ordinance states that "existing driveways that: are not in conformance with this ordinance shall be brought into compliance" if the existing driveway volume is projected to increase by 20% or more during the design hour or if substantial changes to the uses are likely to create traffic concerns. The trip generation attachment to the TIA worksheet still shows less than 20% increase. • The proposed changes to the overall site, namely the proposed connection between the centraI aisle of the grocery sate and the existing driveway that will now have direct access from FM 1709, may also result in trips increasing 20% or more during the peak hour on this driveway. i. We disagree with the comment response that the driveway to the west that aligns with the face of the retail buildings on the overall site will remain the primary entry from FM 1709. Grocery traffic entering from FM 1709 will likely shift east to the more direct access point. We respectfully disagree since this assumption would ignore current traffic patterns. We assert that accesses would continue to function largely as they do at current. The revised eastmost access driveway skews at an angle and does not align with the parking aisle. The center driveway is a straight shot across retail fronts and the White Chapel driveways also provide easy access. • Overall, for the entire &,,velopment shown in the trip generation calcuIation5, LEE estimates that entering volumes increases by approximately 18 percent during the AM peak hour and decrease by approximately 3 percent during the PM peak hour with the redevelopment. This overall increase will be concentrated at the two site drives nearest the proposed use_ If the two driveways adjacent to the new coffee shop are considered to primarily serve just that portion of the overall site, then the volume for each driveway is predicted to increase by approximately 52 percent during the AM peak hour and decrease by approximately 28 percent during the PM peak hour. i. No existing counts were provided, and no site traffic figure showing the reassign ment of traffic from the existing counts and the proposed development to the various site driveway was provided to allow a determination of whether the proposed traffic changes on this driveway exceed the 209X, threshold. Data collection was not acquired since the project did not meet thresholds for a full study. Peak hour percentages are based on the design hour. The design hour is PM peak, particularly for retail sites. It would be inconsistent at best and unfair at worst to change the standard to AM peak for this project. • If the ordinance provision to bring the driveways into compliance is applicable, a variance could continue to be granted regarding spacing and auxiliary lane requirements if the southeastern driveway to FM 1709 remains in place. i. Attempts to meet the spacing requirements would require closure of the driveway entirely_ ii. An auxiliary lane, while p�yssiblywarranted based on the City ordinance volume threshold cannot be reasonably constructed due to the topography of the site. iii. If the site plan connection between the coffee shop site and the imain grocery aisle is eliminated, then the volume increase on the driveway would be limited to site traffic from the proposed coffee/retail development only versus site traffic plus additional traffic accessing the grocery store. The applicant will request a variance.