A Starbucks Store to be located on the northeast corner of US 150 (W, Market St.) and Caroline St. was approved on Monday by the Bloomington City Council despite not being recommended by the Bloomington Planning Commission and concerns expressed by two council members.
Council member Molly Ward, who supported the store, said, “I think it’s a welcome addition for the west side. As I mentioned we don’t have very many options on the west side, in Ward Seven particular, for coffee shops and so I was really excited that they were willing to not only invest on W. Market St. but to actually come back after having been told hey, we need to work on this proposal some more because, they could go anyplace.”
The Planning Commission did not recommend the store be built at this location at its March meeting. According to the staff report, “The denial was based on concerns related to internal circulation and egress from the site. A perimeter parking lot landscaping Variance was granted to allow for the installation of a pedestrian connection to the site, and a request for a Variance to not include a drive-through bypass lane was denied.”
So the developer did go back to work on the proposal and they brought something back to the city that was more in line with with what the Planning Commission was looking for.
The developer had, “modified the site plan to address concerns of the commission, including reduction of additional parking near the site entry, the inclusion of a drive-through bypass lane, a pedestrian connection to Locust Street, and a solid fence to provide additional screening to the east of the site,” according to the staff report.
With those changes in hand city staff brought the modified site plan to the city council and requested approval. But the roller coaster ride wasn’t over.
At Monday’s council meeting council member Donna Boelen still had concerns. “When I noticed the flood plain history, and with all the flooding on the west side, I really would rather, get rid of the parking, even if you think it is necessary, in order to address permeable versus impermeable surfaces.”
Boelen made an amendment to remove ten parking spaces and install landscaping instead in an attempt to reduce storm water runoff. The motion was seconded by council member by Dee Urban. But after some discussion, the amendment failed. Following that the motion passed and the developer had the approval they were looking for.
Ward thinks, “This is an opportunity for us to establish ourselves as the kind of city that wants to work with entrepreneurs for developing in areas that really need some development.”
Ward continued, “I trust our city staff to have looked into the concerns and to have vetted this proposal and not bring it forward to the city council if there are not good reasons to do so. And so I trust their judgement. I am not an engineer. I am not a developer.”
Boelen remains concerned about the ingress and egress from the site. “The location is very close to an intersection,” Boelen said. “So getting in and out, even though IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation) approved it, is going to be difficult especially for people that are going eastbound on W. Market St. toward downtown.”
Boelen continued, “People going toward downtown would have to make a left into the driveway, talking about people coming off of the interstate, they would have to take a left into the driveway. And there is a stop light right there. So you have to wait for the traffic to go through before you could turn left which means the people behind you on Market St. also are going to have to stop or go around you.”
“It’s going to be congested.” Boelen said.
