Albion village officials meet twice this month to review Taco Bell proposal

Design by APD Engineering & Architecture in Victor – Hospitality Syracuse is proposing a 2,600-square-foot Taco Bell at 118 West Ave., next to McDonalds.

ALBION – The Village Planning Board will meet at 5 p.m. Thursday to review the site plan for a new Taco Bell in Albion, with the Zoning Board of Appeals to meet at 4 p.m. on Nov. 15 to consider whether the restaurant can have four signs, which is more than the maximum of two allowed in the village code.

The business also wants the main sign on a pole with that sign exceeding the square footage that is allowed in the village code.

Both meetings are at the village office on East Bank Street. The ZBA meeting on Nov. 15 includes a public hearing at 4 p.m.

Hospitality Syracuse is the developer for the new Taco Bell, which is proposed for 118 West Ave. at a vacant paved lot next to McDonalds.

Hospitality Syracuse would remove a 36-foot high steel water tank from the back corner of the lot, and make about 40 percent of the 1.33-acre lot green space with grass. That would be an improvement with drainage at the site over the current space that is nearly all asphalt, members of the Orleans County Planning Board said during an Oct. 27 meeting.

The county board recommended the Village Planning Board approve the site plan, and the ZBA approve the variances.

The County Planning Board encouraged the village and developer to press the state Department of Transportation for a wider driveway or a second driveway to make it easier for tractor-trailers to turn right when exiting the property.

Hospitality Syracuse is proposing four signs with three on the building and one on a freestanding pole. The freestanding sign would be 79.5 square feet, which is above the 48 square foot maximum.

Hospitality Syracuse also is seeking a pole height of 25 feet, which is 5 feet higher than the limit.

The company wants its pole for the sign to be set back 10 feet from the road to align with the sign at McDonalds. However, the village code calls for signs to be set back at least 15 feet.

The total cumulative area of the signs is at 147.6 square feet, which is 44 feet over the Albion zoning.

The developer is seeking the additional building signage due to the unique “tower” aspect of the building design, the company said in its application. A sign on each side of the tower provides architectural symmetry, and a sign over the door identifies the main entrance, Hospitality stated in the application.

The configuration of the drive-through does not allow for a pylon setback greater than what has been proposed, the developer stated in the application.