At a recent meeting, the Peru Design and Review Committee conditionally approved Speedway LLC's plan to build a truck/automobile service station with a convenience store on the northeast corner of May road.
Below are the minutes from this meeting, as provided by the committee.
DESIGN REVIEW COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
DATE OF MEETING: Wednesday, April 20, 2016 TIME: 5:30 p.m.
PLACE OF MEETING: Peru Municipal Building
1901 4th Street, Peru, IL 61354
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Paul Basalay, Doug Biederstedt, Kris Giese, Mark Lucas, Mike Debo, Mayor Scott Harl. ABSENT: Building Inspector Jeff King, Bob Johnson, Matt Lamps
OTHERS PRESENT: City Engineer Eric Carls, Economic Development Director Bob Vickrey, MichaelBergman of Speedway, Ed Dul of EN Engineering, Melissa Carruthers
Chairman Paul Basalay called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
MINUTES:
Mark Lucas made a motion to approve the minutes of the April 6, 2016 Design Review CommitteeMeeting. Doug Biederstedt seconded the motion. All in favor; motion carried.
NEW BUSINESS:
Speedway, LLC
Ed Dul of EN Engineering provided a presentation on the proposed Speedway truck/automobile servicestation with a convenience store, which would be located on the northeast corner of May road.
Speedway closed on the 13-acre property today. It is currently cropped land with a vacant building o site, which will be removed. A zoning classification from M2 to B4 is being requested. There will be adedication of Commerce Drive right of way, which is approximately 3 acres that will be deeded over tothe City. Of the 13 acres, Speedway will be developing approximately 5 acres. The site will include a4,600 square foot Speedy Cafe, which will have a brick exterior. There are 8 fueling dispensers whichequates to 16 fueling positions. The rear of the building will have 7 commercial fueling dispensers
which equates to 6 fueling positions. It also has a bypass lane near the detention pond. There are 31 parking stalls on each side of the building as well as in front, including 2 ADA stalls. In the rear, thereare 8 trucking stalls. There will be 2 dry bottom detention basins. There are 5 entrance/exit points onsite, including 2 on the north side that allow trucks entering the facility to exit onto Commerce Drive.Commerce Drive is proposed to be a one-way road; the only exits vehicles can make are left-hand turns.
There will be a full entrance on the east side from Commerce Drive which will allow trucks and autos toenter the site. At a previous meeting, the City made a recommendation and site plans were adjusted toadd an access for autos to enter on Commerce Drive as well. City Engineer Eric Carls said this willallow autos traveling west on May road to turn onto Commerce Drive and access the facility a littlequicker. There will be a full access enter/exit on Plank Road. The access point on May road will onlyallow vehicles exiting to make a left-hand turn to continue east bound, but still allow any cars comingnorthbound on Plank Road to turn right onto May Road and then enter the facility.
Site lighting plans were also submitted with the engineering plans, highlighted areas display wherelights will be placed. At a previous meeting, the City asked that landscaping efforts be concentratedtoward the front of the facility, around the building and the auto canopy area, which are shown in theplans. In the back area, shade trees will be added along the perimeter. There will be shrubs andlandscaping around the trash enclosure. There will be a high-rise sign and another freestanding sign.
Ed Dul discussed requested variances that will be reviewed by the Planning/Zoning Commission. Theyare asking to reduce the parking stall sizes from 10’ x 20’ to 9’ x 18’ to allow Speedway to maximizeonsite parking. They are requesting to increase the maximum square footage of the sign from 375 squarefeet to 627 square feet for the freestanding sign, and asking to increase the height to 100 feet to helpobtain exposure from the highway. An application has been submitted to the FAA for review as well.
For the second monument sign to the east of the project, they are requesting to increase the squarefootage to 165, and to increase the height to 29 feet 5 inches, to maximize exposure to westbound traffic.
The high-rise sign will have a floating “S” and pricing boards. The other sign will have the Speedy Cafélogo, pricing boards and other advertising. Paul Basalay indicated that this committee does not approvethe variances requested, but does make a recommendation to the Planning and Zoning boards to thosethat are appropriate.
Paul Basalay asked if the height of the Sapp Brothers sign was known. Ed Dul said they are not aware ofthe Sapp Brothers sign height, but their sign consultant did a survey with a balloon to represent the signlocation/height. He presented the survey which showed the balloon at the full height of the proposedsign, along with multiple pictures taken along the highway and nearby roads to provide a visualrepresentation of the sign from various areas. The 80 foot dimension shown on the presentationrepresents where the bottom of the price boards would be located. Eric Carls asked if the sign would bejust above the tree canopy. Ed Dul confirmed the sign would be located just above the tree canopy. Ed
Dul asked if the Sapp Brothers sign was inside the influence of the airport. Eric Carls said he did notbelieve so, and he would be surprised if the Speedway sign would be because the approach space is alittle further to the west. Ed Dul said once they receive the information back from the FAA, he willforward it on to the City. Ed Dul said site directional signs are typically 5 square feet with lettering oneach side to direct traffic flow.
Ed Dul showed a picture of the proposed building and gas canopy and where logos will be positioned.
Paul Basalay asked the roof material. Ed Dul responded it will be shingles. Michael Bergman said theoutside material is a concrete quick brick. Ed Dul said the trash container and shed will be surroundedby a brick enclosure. HVAC systems will be on the roof with screening.
Doug Biederstedt said the project will be a great improvement to the site. He expressed concernregarding traffic exiting at the May Road access point, and suggested making it an entrance only. Eric
Carls said there will be directional signage at the May Road access. He said this project is in conjunctionwith other roadway improvements and the goal is to have passenger vehicles enter the Speedway siteprior to interacting with the Sapp Brothers traffic or other westbound May Road traffic. He said heenvisions the only people using the May Road exit will be those that want to travel east. Paul Basalaysuggested adding dashed striping to further help traffic realize they can only turn left. He suggested itcould become an entrance only in the future if traffic becomes an issue. Eric Carls said the City iscomfortable with the access point locations, with the directional signage.
Paul Basalay asked about the remaining undeveloped portion of the 13 acres Speedway purchased.
Michael Bergman said Speedway will likely sell the parcels. He said they will be coming in with a resubdivisionfor 2 lots of the property.
Paul Basalay asked if the zoning from M to B is necessary for the property. Eric Carls said the B4 is abetter fit for the proposed facility.
Paul Basalay asked Eric Carls if the parking and access points as shown are recommended. Eric Carlsconfirmed he is recommending the parking and access points as shown. He said his site plan reviewletter was returned to Speedway this week with comments pertaining to grading, a separator system,making sure all the directional signage coordinates with the City’s signage for the new CommerceDrive, and coordinating Speedway and City construction efforts in the area.
Paul Basalay asked if the City is building Commerce Drive. Eric Carls said the City is buildingCommerce Drive, along with improvements to Plank Road and May Road.
Paul Basalay expressed concern regarding the 100 foot sign. Doug Biederstedt said he would like to see
heights of existing signage in the area. Ed Dul said there is concern that if the height of the sign islowered, they may lose view of the pricing. Eric Carls requested Speedway provide a copy of the signsurvey and any information on elevations of neighboring properties’ signage. He said the Speedwayproperty’s elevation is lower than surrounding property, which may mean even though Speedway’s signis 100 feet high; it may match the height of a neighbor’s 40 foot sign. Paul Basalay stated 10 footnumbers seem large. Eric Carls said they can possibly conduct a site distance analysis.
Paul Basalay said overall plans look good, except for concern over the sign height and the height of thenumbers themselves, along with Doug’s concern regarding the May Road access point. He added theycould always include that they may need to make the May Road access point an entrance only in thefuture if traffic does become an issue. Doug Biederstedt said he would rather see it made into anentrance only from the beginning. He added he thinks it is a great project and will be a great overallimprovement to the area.
Mark Lucas made a motion to approve the Speedway LLC project with the conditions regarding thereview of the height of the sign and the size of the numbers. Mike Debo seconded the motion. Paul
Basalay called the roll with Paul Basalay, Mark Lucas, Mike Debo, Kris Giese and Mayor Harl voting
aye; Doug Biederstedt voting nay; motion carried.
Doug Biederstedt made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. Mike Debo seconded the motion;
motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 6:20 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted by:
Chairman Paul Basalay
Minutes prepared by Melissa Carruthers
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