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The Hollister City Council unanimously approved the site and architectural review of a Starbucks proposed for the northeast corner of Fourth Street and Westside Boulevard. The decision overruled a Hollister Planning Commission decision in April which denied the project.
According to the staff report from the April agenda packet, the Starbucks proposal calls for 16 seats indoors and 26 seats on a 1,105-square-foot outdoor patio. It would also have a drive-through, trash enclosure, parking lot, landscaping, a bike rack and 19 parking spaces, four of which would be designated as employee parking.
The project would be built on a vacant 24,526-square-foot, rectangular-shaped parcel next to the El Grullense Jal Mexican restaurant. It would feature landscaping on 26% of the property.
Mark Engstrom, representing the applicant, said the project would provide 30 new jobs in full- and part-time positions. Starbucks district manager Tamara Chavez said hours are expected to be from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the first months of business but could change based on customer needs. She said they have locations which open at 3:30 a.m. and close at 11 p.m.
“We base that off of how we are doing, how the business is doing,” she said.
Senior Planner Magda Gonzalez said the main reasons the Planning Commission denied the project application was that the building was not pedestrian-friendly and not sited along street frontages.
“The issue is that the placement of the structures and the entrances do not provide direct access to the public sidewalks,” she said, noting that customers would have to walk to the back of the building to enter.
According to her presentation, staff and the applicant had worked through meetings to address these concerns.
“We’ve gone back and forth because of the requirements of the municipal code,” she said, “specifically the neighborhood mixed-use zoning that has a clear emphasis for pedestrian-oriented commercial uses.”
Victor Gomez with Pinnacle Strategy said the applicant designed the project, including the patio placement in the back, based on other locations.
“I don’t know how many of you have actually sat on the patio in the San Felipe location,” he said. “You can’t hear anything.”
The project was first set to be considered in August 2023 but the developer was granted a study session with staff and the Planning Commission.
Engstrom said the project began in July 2021 with engineering and studies; the application was formally submitted in May 2022. He said city feedback led to an enlarged patio, public art decorating the building and increased pedestrian safety features.
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