Ground lease OK’d for potential Starbucks project

The Pullman City Council approved allowing city staff to negotiate a ground lease with a developer intent on constructing a Starbucks on Main Street.

Forza Development LLC wants to demolish the former Oasis Teriyaki & Pho restaurant at 530 E. Main St. and build a new Starbucks complete with a drive-through.

Currently, part of the property Forza wants to develop is owned by the city. The 12.5-foot-wide portion along the northeast corner of the property is a formerly vacated street right-of-way.

The city council had the option to let staff sell that property to Forza, negotiate a ground lease agreement or retain the city property. If the city retained the property, Forza would have to decide whether to abandon the project or modify the plans to avoid encroaching on city land.

The council split on the vote 3-3 and Mayor Glenn Johnson provided the tiebreaking vote to negotiate a lease.

The council noted the city previously sold a parcel of its land to the neighboring property, now known as Sanctuary, in a similar situation years ago. City Councilor Becky Dueben said she did not think the city should treat businesses differently.

This is the reasoning Johnson used when he made his tie-breaking vote.

“To balance what we’ve done before with the neighbors, I will vote yes in favor of negotiating ground lease,” Johnson said.

The council mentioned that it received feedback and concerns from the community about this project in recent days, and councilors expressed concern about how a Starbucks drive-through would affect traffic on Main Street.

Forza submitted a traffic study that claimed the drive-through would have enough space for 16 cars at a time, which would prevent vehicles from encroaching on the street. Councilor Eileen Macoll, however, expressed skepticism about this traffic study and noted this project may not fit Pullman’s goals for downtown.

“We’re not looking for flow in our downtown at the moment, we’re looking for some tranquility, and we’re looking for clean air and I don’t think this gets us here,” Macoll said.

Councilor Ann Parks reminded the public that the council was only allowed to make a decision about city land and not on the business itself.

“We have to make a decision about a part of the parcel, not about the business and its intent,” she said.

Forza still has to submit a site plan that will be reviewed by city staff, who will also review a formal traffic study of Main Street.

Also on Tuesday, the council approved reducing the speed limit for a section of State Route 27 from 55 mph to 45 mph.

According to city staff, the Aspen Heights Development near the highway has caused an increase in traffic at the intersection with Pullman Albion Road.

Washington State Department of Transportation and Pullman are working with a developer to build a roundabout at the intersection this summer.

Staff proposed reducing the speed limit to the north and south of the roundabout to 45 mph. The roundabout itself would have a speed limit of 15 mph.

Pending the council’s approval, the resolution to change the speed limit will be submitted to the Secretary of Transportation in Olympia.

At the end of the meeting, the council was informed by Pullman Public Works Director Shawn Kohtz that the Washington Department of Transportation has funding available to study a possible bypass route for freight.

The council approved submitting an application for that funding. Because WSDOT indicated a north and south bypass would not be funded, Pullman submitted two other routes as possibilities.

One route is on Sand and Kirkendahl roads, and the other is a central bypass route that includes Davis Way and Grand Avenue. Pullman is still in preliminary discussions with WSDOT to advance that study.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.