The Colony P&Z Recommends Approval of Development Plan

Cheddars Restaurant

By Heather M. Goodwin | hgoodwin@starlocalmedia.com | The Colony Courier-Leader

The Colony could soon be home to a Cheddar’s restaurant following a vote by the planning and zoning commission.

On Tuesday, commissioners approved a development plan for Cheddar’s restaurant that specializes in homemade dishes. Developers are planning a 8,066-square-foot restaurant that would be located on the south side of Nebraska Furniture Mart Drive and 400 feet east of Bargain Way directly west from the Nebraska Furniture Mart parking lot. The planning and zoning commission approved the preliminary plat Feb. 26. The item will now go before the city council.

The Savant Group completed a traffic study on the proposed site and recommended several roadway improvements meant to ease the projected increase in traffic in the area. The improvements include adding a double diverging diamond over State Highway 121 at South Colony Boulevard, which will divert much of the Nebraska Furniture Mart development-bound traffic from the intersections of State Highway 121 at both Paige/Plano Parkway and Spring Creek.

In addition, roadways on the site will include Nebraska Furniture Mart Drive, which extends from Plano Parkway at Tittle across the north side of the Grandscape site and connects to both the South Colony Boulevard overpass and Grandscape Boulevard, which continues east to connect with Headquarters Drive at Spring Creek and a cross street, called Bargain Way that connects the State Highway 121 frontage road with Plano Parkway.

Mike Joyce, director of planning, said due to the anticipated number of people visiting the Grandscape site, roadway improvements were necessary.

“The road improvements are part of the infrastructure package that was agreed upon by the city and the developers,” Joyce said. “The roadway improvements are based on the anticipated number of vehicles and visitors, which is eight to 12 million visitors per year, to the Grandscape site.”

The site plans calls for the restaurant to have direct access off of Nebraska Furniture Mart Drive. There will be no cross access to the Nebraska Furniture Mart. Developers are planning to provide 170 parking spaces, which is more than the required 41 spaces.

In order to adhere to landscaping requirements, developers are planning to use a combination of Shumard Oak, Eastern Redbud, Sea Spray Juniper and Elderica Pine. Developers would also use Tuscan Blue Rosemary, Knock Out Roses, Dwarf Fountain Grass, Big Blue Liriope and other plants to screen the parking spaces along Nebraska Furniture Mart and surround the building.

See original news post at The Colony Courier-Leader