District 10 Land Use Committee Chair Chris Harkness and Lexington-Larpenteur Ad Hoc Committee Co-Chairs Barbara Frick, Linda Hinderscheit and Council Member Lee Helgen have reviewed a site plan MGM is proposing for its site.

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

The plan proposes that the current MGM buildings be razed and a new 12,000+ square foot Walgreen’s store built in its place. The new building would be moved back from both Lexington and Larpenteur with better sidewalks and green space along both sides. The main entrance to the store would be on the Lexington-Larpenteur corner of the building, with ingress/egress access on both Lexington and Larpenteur. The proposal shows the removal of one house on California and four 2-car garages with two shared access driveways between the remaining four houses. The backyards of the residential properties would be reduced in size to that consistent with those on the east side of California (on the north side of the street). A fence would be constructed between the commercial and residential properties. The alley between the houses that MGM now owns and the current MGM property would be vacated and become part of the Walgreen’s drive-though and delivery route. The alley between the rest of the houses on the north side of California and the dentist and vet, etc., would continue to exist, terminating with an entrance into the Walgreen's parking lot. There would not be direct line access to/from the residential alley and the Lexington entrance to the proposed Walgreen's property, so traffic would not be able to travel straight through from Dunlap to Lexington as it does now.

The District 10 Land Use Committee will discuss the proposal at the upcoming Land Use Committee meeting for purpose of obtaining neighborhood input. MGM and Walgreen’s have been invited to attend the March 8th, 2010, Land Use Meeting, which will occur at 7 pm at the Streetcar Station.

Neighbors with questions and concerns are encouraged to attend this initial meeting to give this project proposal a first look.

written/revised by Chris Harkness, posted by Panod K (updated 3/6/2010)