BCSG conditionally approves coffee shop at River Village

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The Bonsall Community Sponsor Group conditionally approved a request for the construction of a coffee shop in the River Village shopping center.

A unanimous vote May 3 provided support for a request to build a 2,266 square foot coffee shop with a drive-through window at the corner of State Route 76 and Mission Road in the River Village Center. The conditions focus on the coffee shop matching the design of the existing center including color and lighting. The approval in concept allows the applicant to submit plans to the county, and the conditions include an actual plot plan being brought to the sponsor group for review.

“I think this does what we’ve talked about,” said sponsor group chair Steve Norris.

The sponsor group had heard the request for the proposed coffee shop March 1 and voted to continue the item because the sponsor group did not like the elevation of the facility. “We have now come back with a new elevation,” said Jim Chagala, who represented Starbucks at the May 3 meeting.

The county’s authorization for the coffee shop wouldn’t stipulate any specific user, but Starbucks has arranged a lease with River Village Center for the future building and Starbuck’s submitted the application.

The conditions of the sponsor group also include regular maintenance. The building will be owned by River Village Center rather than by Starbuck’s after it is completed, and River Village Center may perform some maintenance.

The sponsor group would prefer that the bollards, or poles which protect the building from motor vehicles, match the color of the rest of the shopping center although that could be subservient to state or county codes.

Chagala and the sponsor group expect the plot plan to return to the sponsor group July 5.