A new building that will include a drive-through Starbucks will be built on Orpheus Avenue just west of Interstate-5.
Wednesday night the Encinitas City Council unanimously voted to uphold the Planning Commission’s approval of the project, which was appealed by Leucadia couple Susan and Dean Turney.
Developers plan to build a three-unit building on the empty plot of land that used to be a Texaco gas station, and some residents including the Turneys, took issue with the fact that the Planning Commission cut the developer some slack on meeting the city’s standard 20-foot setback/landscaping requirements.
In order to make room for parking spaces a portion of the project's landscaping barrier will be located within the public-right-of-way. Some residents worried that if Orpheus Avenue was ever expanded, that landscape buffer would be lost, leaving nothing but the unsightly parking lot. Wednesday night Encinitas City Councilwoman Teresa Barth pointed out that because that roadway is built-out, “that’s as wide as Orpheus is going to get in our lifetime, so you’re not going to lose that buffer.” The project will also have about 24 percent landscaping, which is well above the required 15 percent — a factor that weighed in on the Planning Commission’s decision.
Deputy Mayor Jerome Stocks assured residents assured residents that this was “not a sweetheart deal,” pointing out that the Planning Commission had made a decision based on what city code allows. He also pointed out that part of this project will include a sewer line, which residents who are currently on septic systems will be able to tie into and use.
The future Starbucks will be housed inside a three-unit 3,669-square-foot building, but no word yet on the other two tenets. The coffee shop will also have a small outdoor dining area. Between its storefronts and counters inside larger retailers like Vons and Target, this will be Starbucks’ ninth location in Encinitas.
Story updated Dec. 1 at 1:45 p.m.
