The Cupertino Courier

Walgreen, neighbors iron out differences

By Pam Marino

Thanks to meetings between developers and neighbors, a controversial proposal for a new Walgreen store may get the green light from the Planning Commission Monday night.

Last month neighbors strongly opposed the Walgreen, planned for the corner of Bollinger Road and Blaney Avenue in the All-American Shopping Center.

After attending two Planning Commission meetings protesting the new store because of concerns over traffic and noise, some of the neighbors agreed to meet with developers to see if a compromise could be worked out.

"It looks like it's going to move forward," resident Peter Turk said last week. Turk said he and several other residents met twice with developers this month. "They did some redesign of the facility, and everybody seemed happy with that."

Developer representatives were out of town and unavailable for comment.

The shopping center is in the process of being sold to new owners who are negotiating with Walgreen for the construction of the store. A spokesman for the new owners told the commission in September that the Walgreen deal will allow them to renovate the entire center, which has been in decline in recent years.

Neighbors of the center said they have been plagued for years by noise from early-morning deliveries to the Tin-Tin Market--not allowed by city codes--and from older air-conditioning equipment for the center's buildings.

Turk said the new owners told residents they will be willing to prohibit center tenants from accepting off-hour deliveries and will upgrade the older air-conditioning equipment.

Still at issue is what traffic impact the new store will bring to the surrounding neighborhood. A city traffic engineer said the impact would be minimal, but residents questioned that assessment. Further traffic-study findings will be presented by the developers at Monday's meeting, 6:45 p.m. at City Hall, 10300 Torre Ave.

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