Walgreens drive-thru plans hit speed bump

Plans for a Walgreens with a drive-thru pharmacy hit another stumbling block on Monday when three council members clearly stated their opposition to the project, even though the project received widespread council support last month.

What began as a customary staff update on changes to the city’s drive-thru ban at Monday night’s city council meeting swiftly escalated into a discussion over the merits of a potential new Walgreens. City Manager John Brown discussed the steps needed to modify the city’s general plan to allow discretionary approval of new drive-thru facilities for certain uses, such as pharmacies.

While the city has an ordinance banning drive-thrus because of their negative environmental impact, council members seemed supportive of Walgreens’ proposal after impassioned pleas from some of the city’s elderly and disabled residents during its June 2 meeting.

But on Monday, that support seemed to evaporate for some of the council. Councilmember Kathy Miller, who was absent during the June 2 meeting but has reviewed the project extensively as the council’s liaison to the planning commission, said she supported the commission’s denial of the pharmacy drive-thru.

“I was distressed to see that this went sideways when I wasn’t here,” Miller said in reference to June’s majority approval. “I’m disappointed with the lack of cooperation of the applicant. It’s like we’ve been worn down by them coming back over and over with the same thing.”

Mayor David Glass and Councilmember Teresa Barrett were quick to echo Miller’s remarks. Councilmember Mike Healy said he was surprised at the discussion’s direction, and pointed out that the item was not agendized for action, but was rather a simple update on progress.

“I didn’t know we were going to weigh in,” Councilmember Mike Harris added. “I think the community would be surprised at this full hearing again.”

A general plan amendment only requires a simple 4-3 majority vote to pass.

While the amended general plan language has not yet been drafted, the concept is to “provide flexibility to approve pick-up windows for a very limited number of service uses,” according to the staff report. Such facilities would have to demonstrate a negligible increase in greenhouse gas emissions and incorporate additional energy efficient measures.

Brown said city staff’s goal is to get the greenest building possible from an applicant. He added that while staff has been focused on the drive-thru amendment, the council will eventually need to consider whether to rezone the site from business park to mixed commercial use.

Brown’s comment queued up public comment speaker Dr. Bob Koenitzer, a local dentist with an office on Lynch Creek Way, near the proposed Walgreens site. Koenitzer said other pharmacies in town have told him that they would be willing to implement drive-thrus, so Walgreens’ retail space isn’t needed.

“You can resolve the drive-thru issue quickly with a general plan amendment,” Koenitzer said. “Rezoning and limiting medical office space is a different issue. They need to be addressed separately.”

As it stands, the proposal will go back before the planning commission in September..