Dutch Bros. Coffee wants to build a drive-thru location at 3296 Home Road, and Powell City Council will take the first formal step toward making that happen Aug. 18.
The Oregon-based coffee chain filed an annexation petition Aug. 13 to bring roughly 0.7 acres of land in Liberty Township into the city. Council's agenda lists Resolution 2026-45, which would declare what city services Powell will provide to the parcel if the annexation goes through. Under Ohio law, that resolution is a required step before the Delaware County Board of Commissioners can act on the petition.
The Home Road site sits along one of Powell's busiest retail corridors. Dutch Bros. operates more than 1,225 drive-thru-only locations nationally. The company has not publicly announced the Powell location. The filing is the only public record of the plan.
$5.7 million for Scioto Street extension
On the same night, council will hear the first reading of Ordinance 2026-18, which would authorize up to $5.7 million in limited tax general obligation notes to fund the long-planned Scioto Street extension through downtown Powell.
The money covers the street extension itself, a new public surface parking area, land acquisition, curbs, sidewalks, drainage, landscaping, lighting and a bridge or culvert over Bartholomew Run. The ordinance declares an emergency, meaning council could pass it in a single night if members suspend the rules.
City Manager Andrew White told council at its July 21 meeting that "this is a project that has been in the works for a while and some of the plans go back over a decade." He said a financial package would be in place by fall.
The project is split into two phases. Phase One builds the parking lot and extends Scioto Street from Liberty Street to the western edge of the bridge. Phase Two adds the bridge, abutments, retaining walls, a plaza area and a roundabout extension to Grace Drive. Council unanimously endorsed a single-cell precast concrete arch bridge design at the July 21 meeting, with the bridge alone estimated at $2.39 million.
The extension is expected to add about 130 new public parking spaces in the northeast quadrant of downtown, behind CoHatch. Downtown currently has roughly 1,788 total parking spaces, but only 241 are public. The city's zoning code requires about 1,968 spaces for existing commercial uses, a gap of 180 spaces that the new lot would reduce to roughly 32.
White said on Aug. 5, as reported by the Delaware Source, that construction would likely begin in mid-2027.
A companion measure, Ordinance 2026-19, would create a new capital improvement fund to accommodate the debt.
What's next
Council meets at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18, at 47 Hall St. The agenda also includes a $100,000 contingency amendment for the Lechler Building Addition Project and presentations on electric aggregation and Delaware County Transit.
