Council delays 7 Brew vote

STEVENS POINT — The Common Council voted to postpone their vote on awarding or denying 7 Brew Coffee a conditional use permit to construct a building at 532 Division Street. During their June 15 meeting, the Council heard from local residents, representatives for developers of the national coffee chain, and discussed a missing document that led to the postponement.
The permit would allow the construction of a drive-thru at 532 Division Street with a larger building setback, at 48 feet, than the city’s standard five-foot requirement.
The postponed vote follows the Plan Commission’s split vote earlier this month. The Plan Commission saw a split vote on approval for the conditional use permit, citing a main concern of the coffee shop being set back further than the standard feet five from the road. A standard five-foot setback is in place for much of Division Street, however 7 Brew would require almost 50 feet of setback to safely operate the drive-thru lanes.
A local resident spoke on the increasing number of fast food style coffee shops on Division Street. He noted that Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks are within a block of each other, with Caribou Coffee just having recently closed right off of Division Street. The resident also noted his own preference to frequent local coffee shops rather than national chains, stating that if he is in the Division Street area he is more likely to visit Zest Bakery and Coffeehouse.
The development team for the coffee chain, including engineers, stated the five-foot setback is unsafe for their business model. They stated the five foot setback would cause safety concerns for pedestrians, vehicles, and 7 Brew employees who would stand outside to take orders.

The development team stated they sent an email to city staff containing a sketch that demonstrated the traffic hazards and pedestrian problems that could arise if they were forced to follow the five-foot setback. However, all Council members stated they never received the email with the illustration.
Council members voted to postpone their approval or denial of the conditional use permit until they have all the materials they need to make their decision. However, representatives for 7 Brew asked that they proceed with their vote as a delay in approval would impact their timeline. The representatives clarified that the missing document was only meant to demonstrate the dangers of a five-foot setback and did not contain any missing details that would have altered their site plan.
City staff will be distributing the missing document to council members before the vote at the next Common Council meeting.