First of its kind vehicles-only Starbucks approved off Colonial Boulevard in Fort Myers
In a split vote, Fort Myers City Council members have approved the country's first Starbucks where only people in motor vehicles will be served – no walk-up or in-store service available.
Dubbed a prototype store, and a test location, for Seattle-based Starbucks Corp., the parking lot at Ben C. Pratt Six Mile Cypress Parkway and Colonial Boulevard will be the site of the new Starbucks.
Despite an 8-0 vote from the city planning board recommending rejecting the idea, council members voted 4-2 to allow construction of the new drive-thru Starbucks.
It will be located in the Walmart parking area near the row of stores that already includes three stores that lure vehicular traffic: a Chick-fil-A, a gas station, and a Burger King. A Walmart liquor store would be the closest to the new Starbucks.
"This project was chosen specifically for this location. It is not someone said, 'Hey what the heck, let's give it a shot here,'" said Alan Bumberg of Zimple Development Inc. of Tampa Bay, which designed the building. "It is literally the first one in the nation. It was specifically designed to be a drive-thru model only."
Councilman Johnny Streets, who voted against allowing the vehicles-only coffee shop, said he had visited the proposed site and considers it a potential danger.
"I think the applicants did a very good job, but I don't want the risk of what might be another traffic problem," Streets said. "I wouldn't want to have to say this was the first one in the country (where) someone got hit by a car."
While opponents of the project look to its potential danger, there are plenty of coffee alternatives in the area ‒ two Starbucks stores are nearby, one on Six Mile Cypress Parkway in front of a Publix supermarket and another at The Forum. A third, smaller Starbucks coffee stand is located in the Target store nearby.
There is no shortage of coffee in the vicinity. The ubiquitous Dunkin' Donuts chain has its own stores nearby.
While the planning board was against the plan, some because it would not be convenient to bicyclers who ride in the area, the city planning staff endorsed it.
"We look at this particular site as a Walmart with a very large parking lot," said city Planning Manager Nicole DeVaughn, noting the availability of the other Starbucks nearby. "With those facilities on the other side of the highway, we believe this being car centric would not be detrimental."
Fort Myers attorney Neale Montgomery, who represented the developer of the new Starbucks, suggested that new traffic flow patterns under construction at Colonial and Six Mile may discourage bikers and pedestrians from crossing the intersection.
"I don't think anyone is going to be crossing that diverging diamond on foot," Montgomery said. "If they do, God bless them."
No timetable for construction has been released.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers Starbucks approved for first vehicles-only store in US
