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.