Windsor OKs drive-up pharmacy

A divided Windsor Town Council approved a proposed “drive through” pharmacy Wednesday night, overriding qualms about the traffic and exhaust emissions such curbside businesses generate.

On a 3-2 vote, the council majority was persuaded that a drive-up window provides a convenience for the sick and disabled to pick up their prescription medications.

“I understand if someone has a burger, you make them get out of the car,” Councilman Steve Allen said, drawing a distinction between a fast-food restaurant and a pharmacy. “This is one that makes a lot of sense.”

Allen joined council members Sam Salmon and Debora Fudge in allowing the drive-through to go forward.

Fudge, a staunch advocate for reducing greenhouse gases, said, “I’m surprising myself by saying this is all right.” She said she was persuaded by the applicant’s point that Windsor residents would be willing to drive to Santa Rosa for a drive-through pharmacy, so it made sense to cut down on those 20-mile round trips by allowing one in Windsor.

Mayor Robin Goble, who voted against the application, said it was not fair to the four other existing pharmacies in Windsor that don’t have drive-throughs. And she suggested there should be a “waiting stall” instead for customers to get their medications delivered to avoid idling their vehicles.

Another issue, she said, “is a lot of us shouldn’t be driving when we’re not feeling well or dealing with all these meds.”

Councilwoman Cheryl Scholar said she was not opposed to the concept of a drive-through pharmacy, but voted against it because of some of the restrictions her colleagues placed on it, including that it be screened and not visible.

In an attempt to control the proliferation of drive-throughs, particularly fast food restaurants and the traffic they generate, Windsor in 2000 created a policy that requires all proposed drive throughs to be reviewed by the Town Council.

And because it wished to nurture a pedestrian-friendly shopping district, the town prohibited drive-through businesses downtown.

The pharmacy is proposed on the periphery of the downtown zoning district. It would be part of Bell Village, a 25-acre residential and retail commercial development proposed on the site of the old Windsorland mobile home park, sandwiched between Highway 101 and Old Redwood Highway.

The developers intend to first build the retail portion on six acres with a grocery store and major pharmacy as the anchor tenants, said developer Bill Mabry, a partner in the project.

He said the drive-through is part of the business model for whatever pharmacy company will occupy the commercial center. He hopes to begin construction late next year or in early 2011 after getting further approvals and design review from Windsor.

In 2001, The Town Council rejected a Jack-in-the-Box proposed on the edge of the downtown district. The fast food outlet was proposed on Old Redwood Highway, slightly north of Windsor River Road, close to where the pharmacy drive-up window would go.

But a drive-through pharmacy also generates a fraction of the traffic of a fast food restaurant.

Senior Planner Rick Jones said a drive-through pharmacy generates 10 vehicles per peak hour, about one fifth of a fast food restaurant drive through.

The Windsor pharmacy plans to have two lanes for waiting vehicles to cut down on motorists waiting.

Bell Village also includes 403 residential dwellings in four-story buildings, with about 40 percent of those devoted to moderate-income and very-low income households.

Mabry is a project developer and partner in Oakmont Senior Living LLC, which builds and operates senior living facilities.

Bell Village would also include Windsor’s first underground parking garage. Extensive recreation facilities are also planned, including a health club, tennis courts, community gardens and a dog park.