Plans squashed for Walgreens in downtown Redlands
Plans for a Walgreens pharmacy in downtown Redlands were squashed this week after the City Council stalled at a tie vote.
The proposed project is a 14,350-square-foot Walgreens drugstore with an additional 2,040-square-foot retail space built on the northeast corner of Eureka Street and Redlands Boulevard. The corner is currently home to the now-abandoned McEwen's Furniture Gallery building, which was slated for demolition had the project been approved.
The Planning Commission denied the project on Aug. 12, 2008 with a 6-1 vote. The project's developers, Provident Investment Properties, appealed the decision to the City Council on Oct. 21, and again Tuesday.
Mayor Jon Harrison and Councilman Pete Aguilar voted against the project. Mayor Pro Tem Pat Gilbreath and Councilman Mick Gallagher voted for it. Councilman Jerry Bean did not vote on the project because Walgreens is an advertiser in his newspapers. Without his vote, the project was stuck with a 2-2 tie.
"A 2-2 (vote) is operationally a denial," Gilbreath said. "It becomes a denial because it's not an approval."
Diana Aldama, a member of the Geissinger family that owns McEwen's, blasted Harrison and Aguilar for denying the project.
"Harrison and Aguilar did not make a decision for the best of the city," Aldama said. "They are throwing away $80,000 in city income over a right-hand turn lane. I think that's absolutely ridiculous."
City staff reports said the project would provide $70,315.90 in revenue to the city.
Harrison and Aguilar also expressed concerns about the project's drive-through window design, which originally would have required drivers to make a left-hand turn into the drugstore's parking lot from Eureka Street and then another left-hand out onto Eureka Street after exiting.
Gary Mull, principal for Provident Investment Properties, worked with city staff and a traffic consultant hired by his company to design a drive- through system that would operate with a left-in, left-out scenario.
But the change was not enough for Harrison or Aguilar to approve the project.
When the Planning Commission denied the project in August, members said the Walgreens project would not be conducive to a pedestrian-friendly downtown. Marie Debello, 45, said she walks her dog, Jack, every day from her home near Safety Hall to the Starbucks coffee shop on Orange Street.
"That project is along our walking route," Debello said. "Every single day, we have to watch the traffic to make sure it doesn't turn onto us from Eureka and Redlands Boulevard. I've been doing it every day for two years now. It's a nightmare."
But the turn lane wasn't the only reason Harrison and Aguilar did not vote to support the Walgreens. Both council members said they'd rather pursue a project that was a better fit for the downtown area than a project that would immediately generate tax revenue.
"This is a very profitable project, from a cost-benefit analysis," Aguilar said. "I think this community deserves more and expects more out of us than just looking at the financial dollars and cents of a project."
Aldama said the Geissinger family is now considering other development options for the corner of Eureka Street and Redlands Boulevard.
"We're thinking of turning it into a homeless shelter," Aldama said. "Larry Flynt has also contacted us about that property."
Homeless shelter, Larry Flynt, Walgreens???
Homeless shelter = more crime and property value decline and will have a direct effect on State Street.
Larry Flynt = he needs to stay where he is
Walgreens = either Walgreens or CVS would end up in the tanker after 24 months of aggressive marketing to get customers to either defect or stay.
Is Diana Aldama mad because she just wants the money from the sale of the property?
I say it would be a great place to showcase the history of Redlands as a welcome center or maybe an arts center. Or, it could become a antique/collectibe mall on a smaller scale than Precious Times, which does quite well. And with the big Loma Linda collectible store closing, that is more revenue for Redlands and would be keeping the theme of our town, a friendly place.