Passing the Plan Commission of February 28 and heading to the Council March 16, was a plat for a Pizza Ranch to be located at 7855 Harkness Avenue South, in northwest Cottage Grove.

The application, earlier submitted and approved in 2019, had to be resubmitted due to no activity taking place for a 365-day period.

Contained in the plans for the popular franchise to be located at the corner of Harkness and Hardwood is an 8,046 square foot restaurant, along with a drive-thru pickup window, north of the current Muddy Cow restaurant.

Included in the platting details, meanwhile, are a Site Plan Review, Planned Used Development, and Conditional Use Permit, the last to allow for a restaurant with a drive-thru. As part of the development Pizza Ranch will be required to install a sidewalk five feet wide on Oakwood Park Drive, while the restaurant as planned inlcudes 18-foot parking stalls and a total seating capacity of 236. Lighting as planned will include both tube and cove lighting, with the Sixty Day Review deadline for the proposed restaurant expiring April 2.

Should construction move forward, the proposed restaurant will use an exterior facade including manufactured fieldstone veneer and glass windows, along with what is described as “well engineered wood composite siding and trim.”

As to landscaping, the site is due to see 20 overstory trees, 13 coniferous trees, and 86 shrubs. While the ordinary requirement for landscaping is 18 coniferous trees, Pizza Ranch is proposing to plant 25 coniferous shrubs instead, with perennials and overall shrub count exceeding the City Code’s minimum for landscaping.