Evanston’s Planning and Development Committee postponed a decision on whether to bar Starbucks from opening on Main Street after residents packed the Monday night meeting and spoke out overwhelmingly against the proposal.
Residents living near the proposed cafe, which would be located in the ground floor of a condominium complex at 519 Main St., told the committee the coffee giant would snarl traffic, increase illegal parking and endanger children walking to school.
The coffee chain has applied for a special use permit typical of fast-food restaurants.
Although residents are not on a “vendetta” against Starbucks, they worry that the chain would choke Chicago Avenue and Main Street with double-parked cars and litter, Evanston resident Maureen Glasoe said.
“This is simply not a good location for a fast-in-fast-out business,” she said. “If we had our choice, we’d prefer a more destination-type store.”
Starbucks estimates that the proposed 2,200 square-foot store would lure between 100 and 150 customers per hour, mostly commuters on their way to work.
The proposed Starbucks, which seats 40 people, would be Evanston’s fourth branch of the chain and would be located within four blocks of the Starbucks store at 528 Dempster St.
“It’s not new traffic to the area,” said Michael Werthmann, a spokesman from the consulting firm Kenig, Lindgren, O’Hara, Aboona, Inc., which studied traffic in the area. “It’s traffic already on Chicago Avenue that stops and gets their coffee and moves on.”
At the meeting, representatives from Starbucks and the condominium developer proposed hiring an off-duty police officer to direct traffic, opening four parking spaces in a nearby alley and about seven in front of the store.
They said most Starbucks customers come to the store on foot and that the proposed store would not need more than 12 available parking spaces in the surrounding block.
The Planning and Development Committee now is scheduled to consider the Starbucks issue at its Dec. 3 meeting.
Ald. Melissa Wynne (3rd), whose ward would contain the new coffee shop, said the committee must weigh the demands of urbanization with residents’ need to keep Evanston’s quality of life high.
“We’re a semi-urban community; that’s why people move to Evanston,” she said. “I live with the sound of the CTA, but I still have trees and a lawn. We don’t want to have a pell-mell rush toward urban. That’s what I see happening.”
The Starbucks issue erupted more than a year ago, when a group of residents presented the city with a petition signed by 1,500 people to block the chain from opening on Main Street.
Although most residents at Monday’s meeting spoke out against Starbucks, Evanston resident John Hammerschlag said the store’s benefits to the community outweigh the added traffic problems.
“Evanston is an urban community,” Hammerschlag said. “Traffic is by nature a part of the urban community. … (Starbucks) is a wonderful tenant. I hope we don’t scare them away.”
Evanston resident Agnita Keating presented the committee on Monday with a petition urging it to approve the Starbucks.
“I’m not against Starbucks per se,” said Evanston resident Eileen Katman. “I like their coffee. But I don’t want that at the expense of being able to drive around the neighborhood when I need to leave.”
