HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC - Applicant Memo to Council Kimley>>>Horn
November 411, 2024
Planning Department
City of Meridian
33. E Broadway Ave. Suite 102
Meridian, Idaho 83642
RE: Raising Cane's Drive-Through Restaurant Conditional Use Permit
Request to Review Response
Kimley-Horn, on behalf of Raising Cane's, is submitting the following response to the memo submitted
on October 10, 2024, by Perry Coles, owner of East River Valley, LLC requesting City Council review
(Section 11-5A-7) of case number H-2024-0021. The following specific grounds were submitted, a
response to each is noted below:
1. The safety and mobility on Eagle Road and adjacent service drives will be negatively
impacted by this project through the likelihood of backed up drive-thru patrons on the
service drives and Eagle Road resulting in residents, visitors and business patrons unable
to access adjacent uses.
Response: Regarding the claim Raising Canes traffic would back up through the site, service drives
and onto Eagle Road, it's important to note managing the Drive-Thru stack/queue is a main priority for
Raising Cane's. The following items are important to note while considering potential queuing issues:
• The proposed site plan allows for 21 vehicles to queue in the drive through lane before the
pickup window. Additionally, there is room for 8 vehicles to pull past the drive thru-window to
wait for their order in high demand times. Finally, the site plan affords a vehicle queuing of an
additional 16 vehicles to queue on site before spilling into the shared access road. This totals
to 45 vehicles queuing spaces available on site which well exceeds city standards.
• Raising Cane's current average order time is 2 minutes and 28 seconds from the time the
vehicle is at the order board. Given that the site has space for 15 vehicles from the order board
to the pickup window, this site could serve 360 orders an hour without extensive queuing. This
well exceeds the anticipated daily peak hour demand of 115 trips.
• Crewmembers are often deployed to the drive-thru lane with handheld tablets to take orders
and increase speed of service.
• Raising Cane's speed of service consistently leads the industry - average timing in the queue
from the order menu to the pick-up window is usually less than 2.5 minutes. They serve only 5
food items—chicken fingers, fries, Cane's Sauce, coleslaw, and toast. This focused menu,
along with their amazing Crew, intentional Restaurant design, and use of technology combine
to provide a fast experience for Customers and expedite the traffic flow.
• Crew uses an"EXPO"strategy to both take orders and deliver meals to Customers in the Drive-
Thru.
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• The second Drive-Thru lane is included to increase customer experience and enhance speed
of service.
• If the level of business warrants it, Raising Cane's deploys off-duty police officers to control
traffic at points of ingress & egress. The main goal of off-duty police is to manage incoming
traffic at the property lines and public ROW.
• Raising Cane's manages on-site parking, deliveries and traffic flow to optimize the experience
of Customers and ensure the safety of our Crew, Customers and neighbors.
• In areas that warrant it, Raising Cane's installs "No Parking" and "No Loitering" signs per
jurisdictional standards.
2. The access road is already committed to serve as ingress/egress for 120-room Wyndham
Hotel, a 340 unit-apartment complex, a 460-unit apartment complex and another lot pending
sale. Requested a traffic study be required by a licensed engineer or an internal traffic study
be conducted on Eagle Rd.
Response: Regarding the claim that the north/south access road adjacent the site is already committed
for the unit counts listed above it's important to clarify the approved traffic study prepared by Kittleson
& Associates (dated 12-13-2021) already contemplates these developments. The hotel was permitted
for 124 rooms which replaces the proposed 23,000 sf shopping center in the traffic study.The shopping
center was anticipated to generate 624 trips per day. the Village Apartments has 336 units which
matches what was planned for in the traffic study. The Regency at River Valley which has 300 units
has three main accesses onto E River Valley St and N Records Ave. Both E River Valley St and N
Records Ave lead to signalized intersections at Eagle and Ustick Rd. Each of these three accesses are
a much more direct way for the tenants of The Regency at River Valley to access Ustick and Eagle Rd
than going through the subject site.
The use for the lot to the south of the Raising Cane's development is unknown by us at this time, but it
will have to be in compliance with the approved traffic study and the development agreement for the
Session Parkway Subdivision. In short the developments that Mr. Cole is concerned about were
contemplated in the previously approved traffic study which we are also compliant with.
Significant work has been completed to date to review the traffic distribution in this area over the years.
Most recently, the traffic impact study dated December 13, 2021, and accepted by ITD and ACHD in
2022 included 336 multi-family units, 23,000 sq ft of retail, and two 3,500 sq ft fast food restaurants with
drive-throughs. In the review it was recommended that a northbound right-turn lane be provided on
Eagle Road, this improvement has been completed. An updated traffic impact study was not required
for the change from the retail (2,213 daily trips, 183 PM peak hour trips)to a hotel (991 daily trips, 73
PM peak hour trips), as it was confirmed, and agencies agreed the hotel traffic was significantly less
than the anticipated retail traffic. It's also important to note the Raising Canes drive through restaurant
is smaller than the anticipated 3,500 sq ft restaurant within the traffic impact study, totaling 2,862 gross
sq ft. Additionally, updated traffic counts and analysis dated April 17, 2023, were provided which
determined no additional mitigation is required by ACHD & ITD. Copies of these studies have been
included in the record.
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3. Require changes which might lighten or mitigate concerns,
ex: additional stacking lane for overflow.
Response: Raising Canes did work with City Staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission and has
agreed to several conditions of approval including adding signage notifying patrons no stacking is
allowed in the outside travel lanes that serves as an escape lane. It's important to note a second
drive-through lane has already been included in the design as suggested by Mr. Cole.
We greatly appreciate your time and review of our response. We respectfully request the Planning and
Zoning Commission's unanimous approval on September 5, 2024 (Findings on September 19, 2024)
be upheld. Please contact me at(208)845-0089 or Michael.OReilly(a�kimley-horn.com should you have
any questions.
Sincerely,
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