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HomeMy WebLinkAboutProject NarrativeChick-fil-A, Inc. | 5200 Buffington Road Atlanta, Georgia 30349-2998 | chick-fil-a.com | 404.765.8000 Project Narrative Site Summary Chick-fil-A (CFA) is proposing to redevelop an approximate 1.97-acre parcel located at the northeast corner of the U.S. 421 (Michigan Road) and W. 99th Street intersection in the City of Carmel. The CFA site is more specifically located at 9965 N. Michigan Road. The subject parcel is surrounded by commercial and office uses on all sides. The CFA parcel is currently developed with an approximate 6,560 square foot Red Robin restaurant building and associated parking lot. CFA is proposing to raze the building & part of the parking lot and redevelop the site with a new single story 4,930 square foot free-standing restaurant, dual drive-thru facility with free-standing canopies, parking lot, and associated utilities. The property is currently zoned B-2 and lies within the US 421 Corridor Overlay District. Per the City’s Unified Development Ordinance, restaurants with drive-thru facilities are permitted within this district. Although operating hours have not yet been defined, many CFA restaurants are generally open Monday thru Saturday, between 6:00 AM to 10:30 PM, closed on Sundays. We are anticipating that a total of 15-20 employees will be at the restaurant during the largest shift. Lot Layout/Configuration The CFA building has been situated near the center of the subject parcel in order to achieve the following: maintain as much of the existing parking lot as possible along the west and south sides of the site; provide the maximum number of parking stalls while promoting efficient traffic circulation; provide a sufficiently long drive-thru lane to promote efficient restaurant operations; and to provide adequate visibility to the new store as this will be key to the success of the CFA restaurant as it will attract potential new customers that are traveling along Michigan Road and within the overall development. Positioning the building in this location & orientation allows an outdoor patio to be located southwest of the building. The patio will feature 4 tables for a total of 16 outdoor seats. An ornamental aluminum fence will be installed around the perimeter to create a barrier between the patio and the adjacent parking lot. Parking for CFA restaurant will be located north, south, and west of the proposed building. The west and south portions of the existing parking lot will remain in the same layout from the previous Red Robin development. Per the City UDO, the proposed restaurant will require a total of 63 spaces while 80 spaces are currently being provided with the current site plan. As mentioned previously, CFA has configured the site to maximize on-site parking. Based upon historical data CFA has found that 75-80 parking stalls provides for efficient restaurant operations. The parking lot has been designed to maximize circulation and minimize backups onto the adjacent roadways. The main access to the parking lot will be provided via the existing entrance to Walnut Creek Drive at the northeast corner of the site. The existing access to the adjacent property to the north will also remain. Chick-fil-A, Inc. | 5200 Buffington Road Atlanta, Georgia 30349-2998 | chick-fil-a.com | 404.765.8000 A sufficiently long CFA dual drive-thru lane is proposed to start at the southeast corner of the site, run along the east property line, and end at the northwest corner of the CFA building. The drive- thru lane has been positioned in a way to promote circulation on the exterior of the site in order to prevent backups within the parking lot. Dual drive-thru lanes will also be striped out within the southern access drive to accommodate overflow during peak hours. A single bypass lane is provide to the north of these lanes to allow traffic to circulate into the parking field in front of the store. CFA team members will be encouraged to utilize the parking stalls along the south property line due to low turnover rates. CFA is proposing to install two free-standing canopies over the drive-thru lane: An order point canopy to be located southeast of the CFA building; and an order meal delivery canopy to be located on the north side of the CFA building, over the pick-up window. CFA’s drive-thru operation consists of two lanes of customer ordering and two lanes of meal fulfillment. This dual flex lane concept allows the restaurant operator to use the outer lane as either a second meal fulfillment lane or as a by-pass lane at their discretion to properly support the operational needs of his or her business. If/when the outer lane is not in use, a series of magnetic delineators will be used to merge cars back into one lane for meal fulfillment at the window. Providing the two full lanes gives the operator the most flexibility to service their guests effectively and efficiently. Additionally, Chick-fil-A has a philosophy of encouraging a team member forward drive-thru operation to provide a personal guest experience and increase overall efficiency. CFA has achieved this through incorporating the ability for team members to take meal orders & payment face-to-face prior to guests arriving at the meal fulfillment area and through team members executing outdoor meal delivery in the meal fulfillment area. Enhancements have also been made at the pick-up window through implementation of a drive thru door. The enhancement constitutes replacing the typical window with a multi-function door, that also can function as a window. The purpose of the drive thru door is to allow team members to stage more meals and beverages indoors while they are delivering meals outside, directly to vehicle windows. The door allows easier access to the meals without passing them through a small window. This change helps to create an efficient drive-thru operation and improve the overall guest experience. During non-peak times or periods of inclement weather, the door can be closed and will function as a standard pickup window. Innovative features such as these are what have earned Chick-fil-A best drive-thru in America for ten consecutive years as determined by a nationally recognized quick service authority. Out of all the quick service restaurants surveyed, Chick-fil-A scored the highest in order accuracy, friendliness of the order takers, and speed of service. Deliveries to the site will occur both after operating hours via key drops and during non-peak hours of operating days. The semi-truck deliveries will be made overnight and would occur 1-2 times a week with the smaller box truck type deliveries occur daily. A dual bin trash enclosure has been situated near the southeast corner of the site and will be constructed utilizing materials to compliment the principal building. Chick-fil-A, Inc. | 5200 Buffington Road Atlanta, Georgia 30349-2998 | chick-fil-a.com | 404.765.8000 The Chick-fil-A site will be attractively landscaped to provide year-round interest and to meet the intent of the City’s UDO. It should be noted that the site has been configured without the implementation of foundation landscape plantings. The reason for omitting foundation landscaping is that it would pose site layout and operational issues. CFA has laid out the site to maximize onsite parking while promoting efficient traffic circulation. Introducing a planting area around the building would result in loss of parking. Additionally, CFA has found that landscape areas adjacent to the building foundation promote water infiltration next to the building and adjacent sidewalks which can create frost heave issues in the winter. Signage CFA’s signage will be paramount and has been designed to notify potential customers that are approaching the site from multiple directions. In an effort to assist them in locating the restaurant, signage is proposed on the west, south, and east elevations. Additionally, CFA is proposing the installation of a monument sign located at the southwest corner of the site. Appropriate signage will be key to the success of the restaurant. CFA feels the presence of the monument sign is important given the amount of daily traffic on the adjacent roadways. Building Elevations The Chick-fil-A building has been designed with a mixture of brick veneer, prefinished metal, and glass. The proposed materials align with the adjacent buildings in the surrounding commercial area. The mechanical units for heating/cooling will be located on the roof and will be screened via a parapet wall. Accent light via wall sconces are proposed around the building to provide nighttime interest. The trash enclosure will incorporate the same-colored brick veneer as the building to maintain consistency. The dumpsters inside of the enclosure will be screened from the front by durable double gates with prefinished plastic lumber (weathered wood). The building has been designed with horizontal articulation & undulations, but these offsets do not meet the required 8-foot depth at intervals of not greater than 60 feet per City UDO. Providing offsets with this depth will create a loss of parking which will in turn result in operational challenges. As noted above the amount of parking provide is within the target CFA has found to promote operational efficiency. The Chick-fil-A Story It’s a story that began when a man named Truett Cathy was born in 1921 in the small town of Eatonton, Georgia, about 80 miles from Atlanta, where he grew up. Truett’s mom ran a boarding house, which meant she had to cook a lot of meals – but Truett helped, and he paid close attention, and picked up cooking and serving tips that would come in quite handy later. Along the way, he also learned to be quite the entrepreneur. He sold magazines door to door, delivered newspapers all over the neighborhood, and sold Coca-Colas from a stand in his front yard and all the while he was learning the importance of good customer service. Chick-fil-A, Inc. | 5200 Buffington Road Atlanta, Georgia 30349-2998 | chick-fil-a.com | 404.765.8000 After serving his country in World War II, in 1946 Truett used the business experience he gained growing up and opened his first restaurant with his brother, Ben, calling it the Dwarf Grill (later renamed the Dwarf House). Hamburgers were on the menu but, ironically, no chicken because he said it took too long to cook. Truett worked hard with that first venture, but considered Sunday to be a day of rest, for himself and his employees and as you know, that’s a practice that Chick-fil-A honors to this day. The early 60s would be a pivotal time in Truett’s life. That’s when he first took a boneless breast of chicken and spent the next few years experimenting until he found the perfect mix of seasonings. He breaded and cooked the filet so that it stayed juicy, put it between two buttered buns and added two pickles for extra measure and in 1963 unveiled what we now know as the Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich. As far as the name, Truett says it just came to him. He had it registered that year in 1963 and created a logo that has been updated but is still very similar to the original designed 50 years ago. The Chick-fil-A sandwich was a huge hit, and in 1967 Truett opened his first Chick-fil-A restaurant in an enclosed shopping mall where, up to that point, food normally wasn’t sold. Frankly, the developer of the Greenbriar Shopping Center in Atlanta wasn’t too keen on serving food inside his mall, but as we know that turned out to be a very smart decision on his part, and especially Truett’s. Today, Truett is recognized as the pioneer in quick-service mall food. It wasn’t until 1986 that Chick- fil-A opened its first “freestanding” restaurant on North Druid Hills Road in Atlanta. Today there are over 2,700 restaurants locations in 47 states and it’s become so popular that people literally camp out in the parking lot the night before a grand opening of a new restaurant; they’re hoping to be one of the first 100 people in line because they’ll be rewarded with free Chick-fil-A for a year, which gives new meaning to the phrase “happy campers!” Chick-fil-A is now the largest quick-service chicken restaurant and one of the largest that’s privately- held. Three generations of Cathy family members are involved in the business, including Truett’s sons Dan (the president and CEO) and Bubba (senior VP) and also, his grandchildren. Our Food There are a lot of things people say they like about Chick-fil-A, but it all begins with the food, and especially the Original Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich. It was a significant product innovation, and it remains our best-selling item on the menu. Our innovations didn’t stop with the chicken sandwich. In 1982, we were the first restaurant to sell chicken nuggets nationally, and three years later added our trademark Waffle Potato Fries to the menu, and we still use 100% fully refined peanut oil, which is cholesterol and trans fat free. In 2010, we introduced the Chick-fil-A Spicy Chicken Sandwich. With its special blend of peppers and other seasonings, it became such a “hot” selling item that we soon after introduced the Spicy Chicken Biscuit. More recently and within the last couple years we introduced to our menu a new grilled chicken sandwich and grilled chicken nuggets along with the most recent addition of mac & cheese. People also like the fact that we offer a variety of menu options for those wanting foods that are lower in calories, carbs or fats, such as the Chick-fil-A Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich, entrée salads and fruit cups and by the way, fruit cups are an option Chick-fil-A, Inc. | 5200 Buffington Road Atlanta, Georgia 30349-2998 | chick-fil-a.com | 404.765.8000 with our kid’s meals these days. In fact, Men’s Health magazine named us “America’s Healthiest Chain Restaurant for Kids.” The high quality of our food is the number one reason people keep coming back to Chick-fil-A but there are a few more reasons – and one has four legs and is a terrible speller. Serving our Customers Whenever you ask people what they like about Chick-fil-A, one of first things they say is “the service” and it’s an important part of our story, because it goes back to Truett’s experience as a young businessman and to the values he instilled in Chick-fil-A. We call it Second Mile Service, and it’s based on the belief that if someone asks you to carry something for them one mile, you do one better and carry it for them two. Its doing those unexpected things that make people feel special. Our drive-thru has been voted “America’s #1 drive-thru” for six years in a row. We do our best to ensure a quick and pleasurable experience, and might even have a nugget for the family pet when you arrive at the window. But no matter if you’re being served in our restaurants, at our drive-thrus, or with an outside delivery, you can always count on our team members responding to your words of thanks with two special words of their own – “My pleasure.” Chick-fil-A Philosophy & Operator/Employment Model The Company's philosophy is that their restaurants become integral parts of the communities in which they are located. Chick-fil-A makes scholarships available to store employees and sponsors the Winshape Foundation which supports a family of programs designed to encourage outstanding young people nationwide. The Foundation has a college program and operates a series of camps, homes, and retreats. On the local level, individual restaurant operators typically engage in community support activities such as sponsoring youth sports teams, supporting educational activities, and leadership initiatives. Finally, and in accordance with company policy, the operators and employees in each Chick fil A Restaurant strive for a level of customer service unequaled in the quick-service food industry. It is quite common to go into a Chick-fil-A and have your tray carried to your table, have people clear your table, and ask if they can come and refresh your beverage. Beyond the above, Chick-fil-A’s operator’s model is very unique in the fast food industry. In their situation, the operator is part owner with Chick-fil-A. It’s similar to a franchise except they usually have one location. Sometimes they have two but for the most part they have one location and what that provides is a situation where they have very competent partners with great character in the restaurants who are deeply involved in the community. What Chick-fil-A likes to say is that their operators are in business for themselves, but not by themselves. It is very unusual for an operator to shut down and the retention rate for operators is about 98%. A typical Chick-fil-A store will employ approximately 60 - 80 jobs with approximately 120 jobs created for temporary construction employment. A typical store will operate between the hours of 6:30am to 10:00pm; Monday thru Saturday and are always closed on Sundays.