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Work on new Longs store set to start this spring
Drugstore could be open as early as January of 2002
By Kate Carter
After more than a year of working with the Willow Glen community and San Jose city staff, Longs Drugs has finally received official approval for its new store on the corner of Lincoln and Brace avenues.
If all goes according to schedule, the new drugstore could be open for business as early as January 2002, said Longs architect George Ramstad, the manager for the early stages of the project.
The city's planning director signed the site development permit for the new construction on Nov. 10, after the commission recommended its approval. Neighborhood residents within 300 feet of the project had 10 days to appeal the permit.
None did, however, and the permit was accepted by Longs and became effective Nov. 20, city planner Britta Buys said.
The construction architect working with Longs has begun drafting the construction drawings for the project, Ramstad said. The architect will meet with the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association and the Willow Woods Homeowners Association, two groups that worked with Longs and the city on the plans for the store as they are today, as early as January 2001, to review the drawings, Ramstad said.
After the meetings, Longs will then submit its building permit application, sometime in January or February, he said.
"If all goes well, we could start construction in May 2001," Ramstad said.
Construction will actually begin with the demolition of the existing bank structure. Ramstad said the contractor, who has not yet been chosen, will leave the existing foundation and reuse it in the new Longs store because the poor quality of soil in that location required an expensive and high-quality foundation.
Additional foundation will also be added because the new store will be larger than the old building, Ramstad said.
Ramstad said Longs has addressed some of the concerns the neighborhood association has had with the new project.
He said Longs has agreed to abide by the neighbors' request that hours of construction noise be limited to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, which are stricter than the city requirement that construction end at 7 p.m.
Ramstad also said that Longs has no plans to apply for a license to sell alcohol.
"Originally we had planned to sell alcohol," he said, but the drugstore chain agreed not to after being discouraged by the neighbors and the city.
Ramstad wouldn't address questions about resident's concerns regarding increased traffic due to the store, saying only that, "We don't think there's going to be an increase in traffic."
However, the permit does require a traffic study be conducted six months after the store's opening and a $10,000 bond by Longs to cover the cost of traffic-calming efforts if the study does find that traffic has increased.
Stark, Miers and Scott Architects worked on the design of the new store. The firm, located on Minnesota Avenue in Willow Glen, was contracted by Longs because of their specialization in design and their familiarity with planning and construction codes in San Jose, Ramstad said.
Walnut Creek-based PSM Architects will take over the building phase of the project, however, he said. Longs works with PSM on the construction of many of its stores, he said.
"They know our stores better than us," Ramstad said. "It's better to have a firm who knows how to build a Longs store."
Longs purchased the site and building from Washington Mutual in August 1999, Ramstad said. The Walnut Creek-based chain has about 450 stores in the western United States, from Hawaii to Colorado. About 300 of those are in California, he said.
"We've wanted to be in Willow Glen for a long time," Ramstad said.
He said that he was pleased with the process of working out the building's plans with input from the city and the neighborhood and he thinks residents will be pleased with the new Longs nearby.
"It was a long process; it was good to see the neighborhood involved in the process," Ramstad said. "I think that it's good. They got a store that they're going to feel good about."
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
