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| Walgreens approved, developers anticipate more shops will follow |
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| Written by John Saiz / Patterson Irrigator | |
| Saturday, 19 January 2008 | |
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“We feel very strongly we have the best corner in town.” — John Glickbar, Project architect Developers estimate they could have a Walgreens open at the northeast corner of Sperry and Ward avenues by the Fourth of July, following Patterson City Council’s approval Tuesday. Walgreens will be the first tenant in what developers hope turns into a major retail center on the land between Ninth Street and Las Palmas, Ward and Sperry avenues. The council’s 5-0 vote cleared the way for a 28-building shopping center eventually to be built at the site. “We feel very strongly we have the best corner in town,” project architect John Glickbar said. The largest building in the shopping center would be 127,000 square feet and capable of housing a big-box store, such as Target or Wal-Mart, but developer J.P. Smith told the council that his team had turned down Wal-Mart representatives when they showed interest. Several people who live close to the project raised concerns about truck traffic along Ninth Street. Residents said the street is often flooded with children because of nearby schools and baseball/softball fields. They also wanted the east side of the project to blend in with housing next to it. The council decided that developers would be responsible for designing a buffer when development happens close to those homes. Similar objections were raised when the project went before the city Planning Commission. The commission recommended possibly adding more landscaping to the eastern portion of the project and eliminating driveways along Ninth Street. At the request of the fire department, the council kept the driveways, though a locked gate will allow only emergency services to use the southern entrance, while the northern driveway will only allow exits and left turns. The council did not require the developers to provide more landscaping. Developers said they would lose about 18,000 square feet of retail space if they adhered to the commission’s recommendation. “There’s no need for this extra rainforest,” Smith said. However, city planners said the plans had excess parking, meaning the developers could have sacrificed parking spaces for greenery and still been within city guidelines. Still, the council decided not to change the amount of parking, saying excess parking would be attractive to tenants. To reach John Saiz at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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