WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

This issue is in the Easy Reader today on page 19. The staff report by the city planners are recommending approval of the conditional use permit, but the commissioners still need to decide on 2/15.

Thank you to everyone who sent in emails. You can still send in an email or a supplemental one with new information if you haven't mentioned any of the points below, through Monday to cityclerk@hermosabeach.gov. You need to reference the hearing on 2/15/22 and the Starbucks Drive-through.

The commissioners are only concerned with violation of the law or traffic safety concerns that are particular to this location with this type of business, so these are the best arguments for your emails and at the zoom hearing on 2/15 at 6 pm. Here is the link: Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video an...

The staff report mentions that Starbucks could be open from 4 am to midnight and just turn off the speaker in the drive through from 4am to 8 am and from 10am to midnight by having customers pre-order on their phone, but they will still yell into the speaker when they arrive in the drive-through to try and inform the employee that they have arrived to pick up their order. This is not a good solution, as it will still violate the noise ordinance. This Starbucks drive-through plan will cause back ups on PCH, and will cause overflow of people parking on 1st, 2nd and 3rd to go to Starbucks. All this excessive lack of street parking reduces our property values. People going South will make illegal U-turns on PCH to get to Starbucks. They will also make illegal left turns directly from PCH straight into Starbucks and illegal left turns leaving Starbucks. Additionally people going East on 2nd will turn left slightly and veer straight into Starbucks. This is all ripe for accidents. Additionally cars will back up on PCH going North trying to get into Starbucks. Lastly there will be back ups traveling South on PCH as the left hand turn lane to go on to 2nd Street to park only has room for 1 1/2 cars. The next two graphics are from the preliminary traffic study that was not included in the final traffic study (but should have been): The LOS C that they are referring to in this graphic below, at the light is:Intermittently vehicles wait through more than one signal indication, occasionally backups may develop.

The parking provided in the plan is not very accessible as it is blocked by the cars queuing in the drive-through lanes. Even the preliminary traffic study had an issue with the flow of the cars in the plan and came up with the graphic below (but they couldn't spell Hermosa). Notice that the incoming and outgoing cars have to oddly cross each other:

There will also be back ups from deliver trucks that won't be able to turn around and fit on the site. Here is what is already happening with food delivery and product trucks. Notice the car in the bottom of the picture going up the wrong way on 2nd in the first picture.

One of our concerns is that this location seems to be unique in that most drive-throughs have a parking or a commercial property buffer between the ordering window and residential property lines.

The speaker is 2 1/2' from the residential property line (of 835 2nd above). Even Jack in the Box is 33' from the speaker to the residential property line (see picture below). What kind of precedent do they want to set? I do not live this close, but this is not how our neighbors should be treated. Many people work from home and one of these residents has a baby that needs to be able to sleep. This is why we have noise ordinances.

The traffic study does not study impacts to 2nd as a feeder street. Also, it did not analyze that this project will cause the Northbound drivers to turn onto 2nd hoping to enter Starbucks (but there will be no ingress), so they will park, turn around, or go the wrong way up the two blind hills. This is very unsafe to the residents coming home on 2nd or the customers cutting down 2nd to go to Starbucks. This safety concern needs to be considered.

Here is the pic of the blind hills and signage:

Additionally, PCH and 2nd is a strange double intersection and here is a pic of how people end up running a red light going North because they accidentally look at the second set of lights as seen here:

Lastly, 2nd St is not wide enough to have a flow of cars onto it from PCH. When there are cars parked at the West mouth of 2nd and cars are lined up at 2nd waiting for the light to turn onto PCH, there is no room for a car turning onto 2nd from PCH to fully enter the street, so a bottleneck occurs, and can back up onto PCH. They can only make it in up to the point that cars are parked, so they then have to sit and wait for the light to change for the cars to leave and go onto PCH so they can then get through onto 2nd, as depicted below:

The plans show that they will be widening the driveway on PCH, in which they will need Caltrans approval, but at this point Caltrans did not know of the project when I spoke to them today. All and all, this is not a good location, nor a safe location for a drive-through.