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The Altoona Planning Commission on Tuesday approved a land development plan for a new Greenbean Coffee House on the 700 block of Sixth Avenue -- across the avenue from the leased and currently operating facility it will replace.
Owners Katy and Travis McCabe -- Kavi Partnerships LLC -- were originally planning to construct a three-story building with the coffee house on the first floor and apartments above at the corner of Eighth Street, but now plan simply to build a one-story building for the coffee house, according to landscape architect Adam Long of Keller Engineers.
The owners obtained a special exception from the Zoning Hearing Board for off-site parking, so they could build the parking lot for the new facility across the alley between Sixth and Fifth avenues in the multiple household residential zone where the new facility will be located.
The business has been growing and needs more space, Long said in October, after a Zoning Board hearing.
The owners cobbled together the space for the building and parking lot by buying several properties, according to Long.
The new, approximately 4,500-square-foot, structure will face Sixth Avenue.
A horseshoe-shaped drive-through passage, with entry and exit off one-way Sixth Avenue, will partially encircle the building.
There will be two lanes for receiving orders, according to plans submitted to the commission.
The commission granted a waiver to allow speakers in the drive-thru.
Face-to-face ordering, as required by the city's ordinance, wouldn't be feasible, Long told the commission.
Codes and Inspections Department Director Rebecca Brown agreed.
Coffee house hours are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., so there shouldn't be an issue with the speakers creating an annoyance for neighbors, said Commissioner Larry Bilotto.
"I could see there might be an issue if it were open at 2 or 3 in the morning," Bilotto said.
There were complaints about drive-thru speakers behind fast food restaurants in Garden Heights and in Ivyside, but the restaurants adjusted speaker volumes and the complaints went away, Brown indicated.
The parking lot across the alley will have 26 spaces, according to the drawings.
There will be a pedestrian walkway across the drive-thru passageway to allow customers who parked to access the coffee house.
The commission waived a requirement for a buffer berm on the north side of the lot on which the building will stand -- the side farthest from Eighth Street -- because there was no room for it, according to Long.
Hedges that can grow tall will be planted instead, he said.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.