Second 7 Brew Coffee planned for Southeast Decatur

May 18—Decatur is getting another shot of caffeine with the planned addition of a second 7 Brew Coffee stand, this one on Sixth Avenue Southeast.

Tacala LLC is planning to locate the coffee shop on roughly 1.9 acres at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Seventh Street. It would be across Seventh Street from Dunkin Donuts. The first 7 Brew Coffee, which opened last month, is at Plum Tree Plaza, 928 Beltline Road S.W.

City Planner Lee Terry told the zoning and technical review committees on Tuesday that Tacala asked the city to consolidate four lots along Seventh Avenue with a single lot along Sixth Avenue into one lot in this area that's zoned as an RD-2 redevelopment district.

The two committees review zoning and pre-zoning requests, property subdivisions, annexation and vacation requests and site plans and make required or suggested changes to the plans before they are sent to the Planning Commission.

The Planning Commission, which will meet Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., can approve or deny property subdivisions and site plans but can only make a recommendation to the City Council for final decisions on zoning changes, annexations and requests to vacate city property or rights of way.

The technical review committee looked at a proposed 7 Brew Coffee site plan that shows a 522-square-foot building that's a drive-thru only site. The restaurant will have two drive-thrus.

The developer asked the city to vacate a portion of the alley between Sixth and Seventh avenues. The development's entrances/exits are shown off Seventh Street and connecting with the city alley. There's no entrance/exit off Sixth Avenue.

However, Assistant City Attorney Ruth Priest expressed concern with how the vacation of the alley could impact the neighboring residents.

Planning Commission Chairman Kent Lawrence said the neighboring Benjamin Moore Paint Shop receives deliveries from 18-wheelers who use the alley.

"We had the same issue (in 2015) with Mapco (at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street)," Lawrence said.

Terry said he will add a condition to be met that the site plan needs to allow for truck movements.

A limited number of parking spots are on the east side of the development while the property along Seventh Avenue would be left as green space.

Decatur Utilities' Kyle Weaver said the utility needs to retain an easement through the area where the alley will be vacated. He said the developer needs to know that there could be a need in the future for utility repairs even though they are under the new parking lot.

Terry said Tacala must also meet conditions aimed at protecting the adjacent residential properties on Seventh Avenue, including lighting limitations and installing a fence on the property line shared with a residential property.

Weaver said the developer needs to add a grease receptor and the location of the utility poles to the site plan.

In other business:

—The city received a request from KL Enterprises for Mitchell Ventures LLC to pre-zone 19.59 acres off McEntire Lane as an M-1A Expressway district. A pre-zoning of a property is done in anticipation that an owner will annex property into the city.

Terry said Mitchell Ventures wants to annex the property into the city and build an apartment complex. He said he has not seen a site plan or talked to the developer yet to get details on the plan for the complex.

Lawrence said this is a good area for apartments because Wheeler Estates apartments are nearby on McEntire Lane. The city has received pushback multiple times from residents of single-family homes when developers planned to build apartments near them.

Mitchell Ventures is planning to split off the acreage for the development from a 29-acre parcel between Beltline Road and McEntire Lane. Priest said the developer needs to get the property subdivided before the City Council considers the annexation and pre-zoning.

Terry said Mitchell has to go through the Morgan County Commission for the subdivision before his requests reach the City Council because the property is still outside the city.

—The technical review committee looked at a site plan Pugh Wright McAnally Inc. submitted for two of six warehouses that Ramjet Properties is planning on roughly 2.73 acres at 700 Summit Drive S.E.

Dan Stephenson, a partner in a new development company with his father, Roger Stephenson, said in December that their company plans to build four 10,000- to 15,000-square-foot office/warehouse buildings and two 15,000-square-foot commercial flex buildings at Summit Commercial Park that will be leased out in units as small as 2,500 square feet. There are also build-to-suit opportunities.

— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432. Twitter @DD_BayneHughes.