MGM owner Mike Maglich and Vice President Paul Setter have attended several public meetings of the District 10 Land Use Committee and the Lexington-Larpenteur Ad Hoc Committee in March and April to discuss MGM’s plans to redevelop the southwest corner of the Lexington/Larpenteur intersection. Since the March 8th Land Use Committee meeting where neighbors and committee expressed numerous concerns about the first conceptual drawing, two more drawings have been presented.

A PDF of the latest plan is attached to the right.

View Newly Proposed Walgreens at Larpenteur/Lexington in a larger map

The plan proposes razing the current MGM buildings and replacing them with a new 14,000+ square foot Walgreen’s. The new building would sit back from both Lexington and Larpenteur with parking spaces along Larpenteur, landscaping on the corner and green space along Lexington Parkway. The main entrance to the store would be on the Lexington/Larpenteur corner of the building, with ingress/egress access on both Larpenteur and Lexington. The Lexington access would allow for one entrance lane and two exit lanes. On California Street MGM plans to remove one of the five houses it now owns while rehabilitating the remaining four properties for eventual resale. A fence would be constructed between the commercial and residential properties. The alley would be vacated and become part of the Walgreen’s drive-though and delivery route. The alley from Dunlap Street would terminate with space for a turnaround in, but without access to, the Walgreen's parking lot. Without alley access to/from the parking lot, traffic will no longer be able to travel straight through from Dunlap to Lexington Parkway.

This third conceptual drawing addresses two of the main concerns initially expressed by neighbors, lots sizes of the California and traffic in the alley. Residents also had questions concerning traffic specifically related to Walgreens compared to a liquor store, which is not open late evenings or Sundays, and the potential for increased traffic through the neighborhood, which is likely to increase if customers are unable to use the alley to enter and exit the Walgreens parking lot. Mr. Setter has offered customer counts from a 2004 report showing Walgreens getting 201 customers between 4-6 pm on an average day, while MGM had 400-800 customers per day in the same year, not including the employees and sale representatives, many of whom frequent the MGM headquarters. Additionally, MGM receives 25 delivery trucks per week, while Walgreens has one general merchandize delivery per week. John Kohler, an architect working with Walgreens, says Walgreens attracts more of a “trickle” of traffic throughout the day, as opposed to MGM, which attracts most of its traffic during the evening rush hour. At the April 12th Land Use Committee meeting he stated that a pharmacy is “one of the better uses” from a traffic standpoint.

Area residents with all viewpoints are encouraged to attend the May 10, 2010, Land Use Meeting, 7 pm at the Streetcar Station when District 10 Land Use Committee will discuss the proposal for purpose generating an Action Item to bring to the District 10 Community Council on May 18. At the May 10th meeting District 10 residents will have the opportunity to participate by straw poll to inform the committee’s decision whether or not to approve the footprint and placement of the proposed Walgreens store. MGM wants this assurance from District 10 before proceeding further with its dealings with Walgreens. If approved, MGM and Walgreens intend to continue to work with District 10 to develop the site in a manner that benefits both the commercial and residential health of the community.
 

by Chris Harkness, posted PK