Downtown Topeka Pizza Hut may move to smaller building to focus on pickup and delivery

Flynn Restaurant Group, which operates the Pizza Hut at 500 S.W. 10th Ave., hopes to replace it by putting a drive-through/carry-out restaurant in a nearby building.

That group is asking Topeka's city government to approve a zoning change that would enable it to move its operations to the former Educational Credit Union building at 901 S.W. Topeka Blvd.

The new site would be "pickup, carry-out and delivery only," said William Sharp, a planner for Topeka's city government, at the Dec. 18 meeting of the Topeka Planning Commission.

That commission voted 7-0 that day to recommend Topeka's mayor and city council approve the zoning change, which they're expected to consider this month.

What does Flynn Group intend to do?

Flynn Group is under contract to acquire the property at 901 S.W. Topeka Blvd. from its current owner, Heartland Credit Union Association, which no longer occupies that property, said a document in the agenda packet for the Dec. 18 planning commission meeting.

"The applicant currently operates a Pizza Hut restaurant at the northwest corner of S.W. 10th and Topeka Boulevard and wants to relocate that restaurant to the subject property," it said. "The applicant proposes to adapt the current building at 901 S.W. Topeka Blvd. previously used as a credit union for use as a quick-service restaurant (Pizza Hut) with a pickup window."

No outdoor menu board would be present at the newly created Pizza Hut, Sharp told the planning commission.

The interior of the proposed restaurant would not contain an area for "dine-in" customers," the agenda packet document said.

"Customers will order ahead and have food delivered or will pick up at the restaurant," it said.

What does the city's planning staff think?

The one-story, steel frame building at 901 S.W. Topeka Blvd. was constructed in 1964, Sharp told planning commissioners.

The city's planning staff recommends the mayor and council approve the change, which would revise the property's zoning classification from "O&I-2 Office and Institutional" to "Planned Unit Development."

A PUD is a designed grouping of varied and compatible land uses all within one contained development or subdivision.

"Rezoning as a PUD is necessary to restrict the permitted land uses to those that are compatible with the surrounding neighborhood," the agenda packet document said. "Rezoning the property as a PUD provides for the restriction of land uses such that the applicant can operate a quick service restaurant while protecting the interests of surrounding land owners and residents from potentially incompatible land uses."

The proposed zoning change would maintain the character of the surrounding Old Town neighborhood, Sharp said.

Flynn Group's Cody Cowan, construction manager for the proposed project, told the planning commission that the proposed new use is expected to generate "fewer peak hour trips" than the site's former bank use.

The proposed new Pizza Hut site is projected to see more customers in the early evening instead of during the normal workday, when the area where it stands sees the most vehicle traffic, he said.

A traffic analysis would be required before the proposed zoning change could take effect.

Planning commissioners talked Dec. 18 about the city's potentially doing away with the current arrangement, which allows vehicles leaving 901 S.W. Topeka Blvd. to turn left across two lanes of southbound traffic onto S.W. Topeka Boulevard, and instead banning drivers from turning left there.

Was a neighborhood information meeting held?

Flynn Group conducted a neighborhood information required by the city on Nov. 27 via Microsoft Teams, the planning commission agenda packet document said.

City planning staff members, Flynn Group's team, Topeka City Councilwoman Karen Hiller and two representatives of the Historic Old Town Neighborhood Improvement Association attended, it said.

"The applicant presented a preliminary site plan for discussion," the document said. "The attendees discussed adequacy of parking on-site, pedestrian access and appropriate lighting for security."

A representative of the Historic Old Town NIA told the planning commission Dec. 18 that generally speaking, she didn't think the neighborhood had any major issues with the proposed zoning change.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Downtown Topeka Pizza Hut may move to focus on pickup and delivery