The Willow Glen Resident

Council Watch

WG Safeway officials plan 'superstore'

Store will be twice the size of old one

By Cecily Barnes

After more than a year of negotiations, Safeway finally received the go-ahead to tear down its 25,000-square-foot store on Hamilton and Meridian and replace it with a superstore of more than twice the size. At the Planning Commission's March 11 meeting, approval was unanimous.

"It will operate on a 24-hour basis, as the existing grocery store does," said senior planner Carol Hamilton. "We did receive some letters [of opposition] early on, but I believe that we were able to deal with the issues that were raised. There was no opposition by the time the project came to the Planning Commission."

Safeway's land-use consultant Richard Zlatunich said construction will begin in May, and he hopes it will be completed by October. Once the new store is open for business, the existing structure will be demolished, and that space will become part of the superstore's parking lot.

"We will not demolish the old store until the new one is open for business," Zlatunich said. "The advantage that the larger store offers is the opportunity for our customers to select various products."

Safeway's plans to expand took more than a year of bureaucratic and legal dealings. A lawsuit Safeway won last year allowed the market to cash in on the purchase option in its lease. Landowner Peter Danna argued that the purchase option was only intended for the San Jose post office, which had originally leased the land and then sold its lease to Safeway. When Safeway attempted to purchase the land and Danna refused to sell, Safeway took Danna to court.

Once Safeway won its lawsuit, another hurdle was presented: members of the Dry Creek Homeowners Association, whose property backs up behind Safeway, feared the supermarket would allow high-density developers to build on the unused land behind the store. This could worsen existing traffic problems, they said.

However, both the homeowners association and the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association endorsed the project once Safeway pledged to allow only medium-density development on the back of its lot. The city's traffic analysis also indicated that the project would not significantly affect traffic.

"Some people are still not happy about the fact that the access road [connecting Safeway to its neighboring center] is going to be closed, but I don't think [keeping it] would have been possible," said WGNA president Kris Cunningham. "We're satisfied that what could be done has been done."

"The neighborhood association sent a letter complimenting the applicants on the way they had worked with the neighborhood to resolve the issue," planner Hamilton said.

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