Another discussion of 7 Brew Coffee, another 5-3 vote by the Springfield City Council to kick the coffee cup and the decision down the road.
Employees of the Springfield Department of Planning and Development and the Department of Public Works continue to evaluate the proposed 7 Brew drive-thru coffee shop at the intersection of Sunshine Street and Jefferson Avenue. The plan calls for a drive-thru shop with three lanes capable of holding up to 26 cars. Drivers would access the shop on the south side of Sunshine Street from Jefferson Avenue to the west and from Roanoke Avenue to the east.
The Springfield City Council will take up the case again Jan. 9.
Springfield Director of Planning and Development Susan Istenes explained that any conditions to a conditional use permit application — necessary in order to operate a drive-thru business in Springfield — would require the case to go back to the Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission for a fourth time.
“The public works staff at this time recommends a condition to be added to the CUP that would require a median to be constructed on Jefferson Avenue paid for by the developer,” Istenes said.
Springfield Department of Public Works Principal Engineer Brett Foster explained how the median would stop drivers from going from Sunshine to Jefferson to 7 Brew.
“There would be no left-hand turn from Jefferson into the property, so the only way you could turn into the property would be northbound from Jefferson, or you would have to take the Roanoke access to access the property,” Foster said.
Traffic concerns took top priority
Reding Management owns a total of 1.08 acres of land on the southeast corner of Sunshine and Jefferson. The property sits across Jefferson Avenue from Jefferson Avenue Baptist Church, and across Sunshine Street from Sunshine Elementary School. Developer Royce Reding aims to build what would be Springfield’s fourth 7 Brew Coffee drive-thru store there.
The 5-3 council vote broke down with Andrew Lear, Richard Ollis, Abe McGull, Heather Hardinger and Mayor Ken McClure voting to table any vote until January, and Mike Schilling, Monica Horton and Craig Hosmer voting not to table the drive-thru bill. Councilman Matt Simpson was absent from the meeting Dec. 12.
Hosmer asked about the number of meetings between planning and zoning employees and employees of Reding Management. He then asked why city employees had not met with neighboring property owners to discuss their concerns again.
“Neighborhoods should have some input,” Hosmer said. “It just seems like we’re trying to drive a square peg into a round hole.”
“We’re not,” Gage said. “I just want to be clear. We’re following through with guidance provided by council at the last meeting.”
The City Council voted to rezone the Sunshine and Jefferson property from residential to a limited business district earlier in 2022, but has twice voted against granting the conditional use permit necessary for a business to operate with drive-thru lanes and windows. Drive-thru service is a cornerstone of 7 Brew’s business model, along with upbeat music bumping through outdoor speakers and a cornucopia of flavor combinations.
Neighboring property owners brought up concerns with traffic jams at the Sunshine and Jefferson traffic light, 7 Brew customers cutting through residential streets, danger for pedestrians — especially children — people coming and going at all hours, and loud music as reasons they opposed the project.
Traffic at Sunshine and Jefferson
The most recent traffic study for the intersection of Sunshine Street and Jefferson Avenue occurred April 9, 2019. Engineers counted 40,207 vehicles passing through the four-way intersection in one day, with roughly seven times as much traffic going east and west as going north and south.
On March 30, 2016, a traffic study examined cars traveling on Jefferson Avenue between Sunshine Street and West Cherokee Street, which is the next street to the south after Sunshine. The study, now dated by six and a half years, found 4,995 cars passed along that stretch of Jefferson Avenue in a single day.
The 7 Brew at the corner of Glenstone Avenue and Kearney Street in Springfield had 388 cars over a 17-hour span that the store underwent observation by traffic engineers. A “trip,” as defined in the planning documents, is any instance of a vehicle entering or leaving a property. A driver pulling into 7 Brew, buying a drink and then driving off the property makes two trips, according to the definition of “trip.”
“The highest volume was the 11 o’clock hour,” Springfield Assistant Director of Public Works Martin Gugel said. “We plugged it into our existing traffic models, looking specifically at the intersection of Jefferson and Sunshine, and it did not impact the level of service with 776 brand new trips.”
“Level of service,” Gugel explained, is the average amount of time it takes a vehicle to pass through an intersection, whether it’s through traffic or turning traffic.
Planning and Zoning Commission said ‘No’
Springfield Senior Planner Daniel Neal explained the changes between the second and third proposals in a memo to the Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission.
“The applicant added a pedestrian walkway and added outdoor seating to the proposed site plan,” Neal wrote.
The outdoor seating amounted to two picnic tables with an estimated capacity of eight seats. Neal wrote the proposal met the standards for granting a conditional use permit. He wrote that the lot is challenging to build on because it is relatively shallow.
The Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission took up the latest version of the Sunshine and Jefferson Case on Oct. 6, and voted 5-1 to recommend denial of a conditional use permit. City staff members recommended approval.
Britton Jobe was the only commissioner to vote for the proposal that was presented and debated on Oct. 6. Commissioners Natalie Broekhoven, Bruce Colony, Carl Knuckles, Chris Lebeck and Eric Pauly all voted against the proposed conditional use permit.
7 Brew Coffee is based in Arkansas, and most of its 22 stores are owned by franchisees. According to its website, 7 Brew was “born from a desire to change drive-thru coffee into a fun, mind-blowing experience for everyone.” It serves coffee, sodas, smoothies, shakes and energy drinks.
