Oregon-based coffee group’s plan for new location near UK campus nixed by planning group
The Urban County Planning Commission turned down a zoning request for a popular Oregon-based coffee chain to construct a new building at the location of the former “Blue Arby’s” near the University of Kentucky campus.
The commission voted 8-1 Thursday to deny the rezoning of 507 S. Limestone from a neighborhood zone to a neighborhood business zone for the construction of a 967-square foot, single-story Dutch Bros coffee house with a double-lane drive-thru.
The planning commission’s recommendation now moves to the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council. Dutch Bros can ask the council for another public hearing. It’s not clear when the council will vote on the zone change.
Dutch Bros is a drive-thru coffee West Coast chain, headquartered in Grants Pass, Ore. It was founded in 1992 by brothers Dane and Travis Boersma. The chain has more than 500 locations in 13 states and has developed a cult following.
It announced in March that it was opening another location on New Circle Road in a former Sonic.
Lexington planning staff recommended the commission not approve the zone change, citing concerns with traffic in and out of a property in a high pedestrian area near UK’s campus.
Moreover, the city’s comprehensive plan, which guides development, encourages more dense development along the city’s main corridors, including South Limestone Street, city planners said during Thursday’s planning commission meeting.
Bruce Simpson, a lawyer who represents Dutch Bros, said the site has been vacant since the iconic Blue Arby’s closed in 2019.
Dutch Bros had proposed a drive-thru with no interior dining. Entrance and exits would be limited to Colfax Street. There would be walk-up service available fronting South Limestone.
“This will have less traffic on the site than an Arby’s,” Simpson said.
Moreover, at neighborhood meetings about Dutch Bros design, no one showed up to oppose the development, Simpson said.
Simpson argued that more density at that location — which is where Nicholasville and South Limestone splits into two-way —is not feasible.
“It’s been vacant for years,” he said.
Still, planning commission members said they were concerned about how traffic would enter and exit the property. There are five lanes of traffic in front of the property on South Limestone.
“I’m not opposed to a coffee shop,” said Janice Meyer, a planning commission member. “It is in the busiest pedestrian area of our city. I’m concerned about the car-centric nature of the application.”
Bruce Nicol was the only member of the commission to vote to approve the zone change.
