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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005.03.30 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES T ORM F EQUEST R RAVEL CCM ITY OUNCIL INUTES March 30, 2005 4:00 P.M. City Council JOINT MEETING WITH PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION STATE OF IDAHO ) : ss County of Madison ) Present were the following: Mayor: Mayor Shawn Larsen Council Members: Paul Pugmire Donna Benfield Nyle Fullmer Rex Erickson G. Farrell Young Irma Anderson Financial Officer Richard Horner P&Z Administrator: Kurt Hibbert City Clerk: Blair D. Kay PFC: John Millar City Attorney: Stephen Zollinger ROLL CALL: All Council Members were present except Council Member Fullmer. Planning and Zoning Members present were the following: 1.Winston Dyer (Chairman) 2.Joseph Laird 3.Randall Porter 4.Thaine Robinson 5.Ted Hill 6.Michael Ricks 7.David Stein Mayor Larsen introduced Roy D. Williams from Phillips Edison & Company and he asked Mr. Williams to present the proposed site plan for Walgreen in Rexburg. Roy Williams reviewed the plans to bring a Walgreen development to Rexburg. He introduced the following: 1.Bob Sherry – Director for Construction for Phillips Edison & Company 2.Nancy Ricchio – Real Estate Manager for Walgreen from Chicago 3.Mark Curtis – Boise District Manager for Walgreen Roy Williams indicated that Phillips Edison & Company is a National Real Estate developer with eighty shopping centers totaling over 9.5 million square feet of retail space. He explained that his company has had significant experience developing Walgreen stores. On January 24, 2005, Walgreen approved a site plan for Rexburg at nd the SW corner of Main Street and 2 East. He explained that the development of Walgreen on Main Street in the Central Business District is a tremendous opportunity to begin the restoration of the heart of “America’s Family Community”. 1 Bob Sherry presented a Power Point presentation of the proposed site plan for a Walgreen in Rexburg. Bob listed the needs of Rexburg and Walgreen in his discussion. Downtown Rexburg is in need of revitalization. A cooperative effort is needed to accomplish the revitalization of the downtown area. Bob reviewed the needs of the City, the developer, and Walgreen. He has heard positive comments about Walgreen Company locating in Rexburg. Other concerns about the location and amenities of the development have been discussed. Bob reviewed parking, access, and presentation of the building. There will be sixty-one parking stalls with four of them being designed for handicap parking. The Zoning Ordinance does not require a business to provide additional parking. Bob spoke about the plan to add nd green space and trees to the development. They plan to take out parking along 2 East and provide a pedestrian area on that side of the store with a lot of landscaping. The sidewalk will be developed to move pedestrian traffic to the building away from the street. They will add bike parking too. They will make provisions for a shelter in the site plan for the pedestrian area. There will be pavers added to the entryways for the east and west entryways to the store. They plan to have a future transit stop at the pedestrian area. Bob Sherry explained that the Tom Hudson recommended taking the Main Street access to the store and putting it on the west side of the building. They were open to that discussion. The lighting for the store is still under development. They plan to nd add a “Welcome to Downtown Rexburg” sign on the corner of Main Street and 2 East. The building will be constructed of limestone and brick with a canopy drive through for driving customers. Nancy Ricchio explained that she is the Real Estate Manager for the Pacific Northwest for Walgreen. She was aware of the concerns of some people with the positioning of the building on the proposed site after Mr. Tom Hudson’s review of the downtown area. She presented some concerns that Walgreen has with the positioning of the building. Walgreen started as a Company in 1901; so, they have been around for over 100 years. She reviewed the shoppers “self serve” concept that is the current trend for shoppers. Their corporate strategy is to be the nation’s most convenient and technologically advanced drug store. They want to be convenient by being located on a main intersection in town with a drive through and safe parking. They have over 4700 stores that are linked with technology. Any Walgreen store in the country could pull up the records of a customer in Rexburg in order to refill a prescription for them if they were traveling out of town. Nancy Ricchio mentioned that Walgreen had conducted a couple of focus group research projects through “Gilmore Research” out of Seattle. Convenience and safety were the two main considerations for the customers who were interviewed in the Portland surveys. They wanted to park close to the store. Women did not want to park in a back parking lot at night. Thirty percent of their business is done at night. Nancy indicated that they wanted their stores to be friendly and inviting and well lighted. In order to place the footprint of the building up against the street, Walgreen would have to have as much foot traffic as vehicular traffic. Sick customers do not want to walk to get to the store. Mark Curtis was available to field questions from the audience. Mayor Larsen asked the Council for comments. Council Member Young thanked the presenters for a well documented presentation and for their professionalism. 2 Council Member Pugmire asked about the Pocatello store on Alameda and Yellowstone. It is on a very tight corner with limited parking. Council Member Erickson thanked them for a good presentation. “We are looking forward to Walgreen being located in Rexburg”. Mayor Larsen asked the presenters if the store would be a twenty four hour store. “Not initially.” Council Member Benfield thanked the presenters for the presentation. She lamented the fact that they did not come to town earlier when her family business was one of the largest business on Main Street for twenty-three years. This business is what Main Street needs to turn around the businesses that have been leaving Main Street. Although we have watched businesses exit the downtown area for the last fifteen years, this development will be the start of a turn-around for downtown Rexburg. Mark Curtis , Boise District Manager for Walgreen mentioned that they are committed to the Community. “We don’t go away;” Walgreen leases are twenty-five to seventy-five year long. Walgreen looks forward to coming to Rexburg. Nancy Ricchio indicated that it has taken a year of preparation work to get to this point. She visited Rexburg last year to see if it was a viable location to build a store for the next twenty five to seventy five years. “We intend to be here a long time.” There was discussion concerning the Zoning Codes and how Walgreen will approach the Zoning issues. Nancy Ricchio indicated that Walgreen works within the existing code as much as possible before seeking a variance. She indicated that from a business prospective, there are some things that are very important to Walgreen; namely parking and building design. They use landscaping, building design, elevations, and green space to soften the look of the building. David Stein asked Nancy if Walgreen had used one row of parking instead of two rows between the building and the street. Nancy indicated that they had done one row of parking; however, they work within the zoning (parking) requirements in conjunction with the parking requirements of the store to make the final design. One row of parking is usually dictated by the restrictions of the site more than anything else in the project. One row of parking is not ideal for Walgreen. The question was asked about store staffing. Walgreen tries to staff locally as much as possible. Because of availability of pharmacists, they will probably be moved into Rexburg. If they can hire people locally, they will do that first before they go internal and ask existing employees if they will move to Rexburg. Mayor Larsen asked the Walgreen team, what brought them to Rexburg. Nancy indicated that demographics, age of citizenry, projected growth of the City, potential number of prescriptions, etc., are put into a database for analysis. If the analysis is positive, they move forward with plans to start the development phase of the project. Council Member Pugmire expressed gratitude for Walgreen willingness to locate in Rexburg. He requested a reason why the City should set aside three to five years of planning for the downtown area to accommodate this project design. Nancy Ricchio indicated that the City and Walgreen has certain objective that each organization is trying to reach. These objectives are not meshing at a 100%. Walgreen is trying to accommodate the objectives of the City as much as they possible can accommodate. In order for Walgreen to be successful in Rexburg, they need a specific design. She mentioned other localities that under perform twenty to 3 thirty percent when the store design is compromised; “that is not a risk that we can take here in Rexburg”. An average Walgreen store takes an investment of seven and one half to eight million dollars. If the store is not placed correctly according to the Walgreen model, it will show less returns. Council Member Erickson mentioned that the Council does not show the same worries that have been expressed. This project is one of the best downtown projects he has seen in the last thirty-eight years of his Rexburg experience. “Some of us share a more optimistic view than others.” He recommended that they proceed with the application process through the Planning and Zoning Commission. Josh Donat asked about the setback for the building and how that will affect their project due to the fact that the downtown area is a 25 mph street. He noted that one project they discussed was in Lake City Way, Washington, on a major state highway. This street was about a 50 mph street and it does not compare to the Main Street in Rexburg. Rexburg is planning for a pedestrian friendly Main Street which is a 25 Nancy Ricchio mph street. responded that this development is a first step in redeveloping the downtown area. Walgreen has certain thresholds that they have to meet to follow through with a development. This is a first step in the downtown redevelopment. Over time, Main Street may become a pedestrian area with continued development; however, at this time the thresholds would not be met with a different design. Their market share in Rexburg will take time to build up verses a location where there is an existing Walgreen presence. Roger Muir was favorable to the Walgreen development. He was concerned with the color of the building. It may not blend with the colors currently exist in the downtown area. He mentioned that the County Commissioners have been working with Walgreen for about a year. It is a good opportunity for Rexburg to have this proposed development on Main Street. Council Member Pugmire mentioned that the building could be similar to the Madison County Court House with similar architectural lines, color, and character. Nancy Ricchio indicated that they could take a look at the Court House to see if there could be changes made to their development. Mark Curtis noted that they will be good neighbors. They have pride in the Community. Mr. Ricks mentioned the Walgreen’s store in Idaho Falls. He was in favor of that design. Mayor Larsen reviewed the process to bring the site plan to the Planning Commission for approval. He thanked everyone for attending the meeting. Adjournment ____________________________ Shawn Larsen, Mayor Attest: __________________________________ Blair D. Kay, City Clerk 4