| Sonic to open near Oakland Mall this fall
By Terry Oparka TROY — Despite initial concerns about traffic congestion and small lot size, a popular fast-food drive-in restaurant new to Troy cleared the final hurdle last week needed to open its doors near Oakland Mall. The Troy Planning Commission voted 8-1 to allow drive-in service at Sonic, American’s Drive-In restaurant, which is only available through a Special Approval Land Use in an H-1, highway service district. Planning Commissioner Lon Ullmann opposed the SALU. He said he wished the operation success, but thought the restaurant “was a little too much in a small space.” On Jan. 26, the Troy City Council approved a request to rezone the 1.012-acre parcel from B-1, business, to H-1, highway service, which the Planning Commission and Planning Department supported. Under the city’s new Master Land Use Plan, the 14 Mile and John R area is designated as an area focused on varied commercial products. The Road Commission for Oakland County has approved plans for the property owner, Urban Retail Properties, which owns Oakland Mall and the adjoining Oakland Plaza, to construct a deceleration lane on John R, north of 14 Mile. In addition, the developer will construct a new in-only entrance to the restaurant off of John R. On June 16, the Troy Board of Zoning Appeals approved variances to allow a canopy to be located 10 feet from the property line, rather than the 25 feet required under city code, and to allow a 12-foot-wide driveway on the east side of the building when the city code requires a minimum width of 15 feet. In addition, the BZA approved a variance to allow parking spaces to overhang the greenbelt by 1 foot and 9 inches into the required 10-foot width for greenbelts. Richard Carlisle of Carlisle/ Wortman Associates, the city’s planning consultant, expressed concern about semi-trucks making deliveries to the restaurant in a busy parking lot during peak business times. “It’s a safety issue,” he said. The Planning Commission granted the SALU with the provisions that deliveries to the restaurant only be made between midnight and 10 a.m. and that the developer work with the city’s landscape analyst on the species of trees to be placed on the site. Sonic franchise owner Carl Chandler told the Planning Commission that an 18-wheeler delivers 80 percent of the product and usually comes in the “middle of the night.” Addressing traffic congestion concerns, Doug Heiley, senior design engineer for Sonic, said traffic would settle down after the “honeymoon period.” “The national average is six to eight cars per hour (going through the drive-through),” he said. He said the company was really excited to come to Troy. “It will bring excitement and energy to the (retail) center,” he said. Chandler said he hopes to open the restaurant in October. You can reach Staff Writer Terry Oparka at toparka@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1054.
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