No drive-through window for Starbucks
Angelique Flores
FOUNTAIN VALLEY -- Concerns about traffic is the reason city officials
offered for shooting down a request to let Starbucks coffee shops include
a drive-through window with a new store on Brookhurst Street.
The City Council on Tuesday voted 3-2 against the proposal, saying
temporary changes in traffic flow could create confusion among drivers.
“This concerns me from a safety aspect,” Councilman John Collins said.
Starbucks had wanted to open a shop in the former Washington Mutual Bank
at 18517 Brookhurst. The proposed business hours were from 5:30 a.m. to
11 p.m. However, the drive-through would have been open from 5:30 to 9:30
a.m. and would have forced traffic from one of the lanes to be reversed
during these hours, creating a one-way flow. Starbucks proposed using
removable cones and a two-way sign to help direct the temporary one-way
traffic.
Project architects had been working with city staff on the plan since
November. However, planning and traffic commissioners also shot down the
request, citing concerns that cars in the drive-through line might stack
up and that the temporary change in flow could create confusion. The
council heard the matter on an appeal of that decision.
Starbucks representatives said traffic problems hadn’t occurred at its
other drive-through shops.
The company still will be allowed to build a store at the site. If
Starbucks moves ahead with construction, it will be the company’s second
shop in Fountain Valley.
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