Saratoga News

Planners give Starbucks approval for Argonaut

By Sarah Lombardo

In a unanimous vote last Wednesday night, the Saratoga Planning Commission approved a use permit allowing Starbucks Coffee Co. to move into the Argonaut Shopping Center. But commissioners added a condition to the permit that the Seattle-based coffee chain must submit a plan for litter pickup to city staff for approval. Commissioners, who expressed concern about trash accumulating at the site because of the carry-out nature of Starbucks' products, also cautioned the company that the new Starbucks would be closely monitored.

Commissioner Marcia Kaplan has complained in the past about the condition of Starbucks shops she has visited. Warned Kaplan: "You can be sure I'll be watching."

Commission chairwoman Margaret Patrick reminded Starbucks that their permit was conditional, meaning that it can be called up for review, and possible revocation, should the commission hear about a trash problem at the coffee shop.

"When people carry things out, they are sloppy," Patrick said. "If the neighbors bring this up to us, we will call this back."

In a change from the last time Starbucks tried to open a shop in Saratoga, on the corner Big Basin Way and Los Gatos-Saratoga Road, only one resident addressed the commission speaking against the proposed site for the coffee company. But many neighboring residents sent letters against the idea.

Chris Hawks, the sole speaker against the plan, said the traffic and noise associated with the proposed corner location at Argonaut, near Blauer Drive, would be excessive. The corner site, he said, would bring traffic within 40 yards of his house and lead to congestion on Blauer Drive during the school year when school buses also use Blauer.

"It's only a matter of time before we have an issue of safety there," he said.

Starbucks real estate manager Ronald Taylor assured the commission the company wants to address traffic, and said he expected Blauer Drive would not receive as much increased traffic as neighbors expected. Most customers, he said, would use the main shopping center entrance on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road.

"We are a successful company, but we are also a community-based company, and we will do whatever it takes to work with the neighbors," Taylor said.

The approval paves the way for Starbucks to move its 24-seat coffee shop into the 1,169-square-foot space in the center, now occupied by a travel agency. But Starbucks has not yet obtained a lease for the site, Travel Management officials point out. "We are not moving anywhere," Ray Kalman, president of Travel Management, said. "My spot has not been leased to anyone."

Kalman did concede that there is a possibility the travel agency, which is currently leasing the site on a month-to-month basis, might move to a larger spot within the center but said that nothing has been confirmed, and such plans would not even come about till the end of the year. Kalman stressed that he had the assurance of the center's owners that he was not in danger of losing his spot.

Carole Rodoni, co-owner of Argonaut Shopping Center, declined to comment, referring all questions to Ed Storm, developer for the center.

Storm said the lease agreement for Travel Management expired some time ago and that officials at the agency are aware of the situation.

"They know what's going on," he said.

Kalman said he does not want to give the impression that he is opposed to Starbucks entering the center. Instead, he said, he just wants to let customers know that the agency is not leaving the center.

"I have the greatest amount of confidence with the owners that they are being upfront with me," he said of the assurance he received from Rodoni and co-owner Paul Hulme. "We want to fully cooperate."

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