By Ted AYALA

The City of Glendale has drawn the line dividing coffee lovers in Montrose right down the middle of Ocean View Boulevard. According to a report released late last Thursday afternoon by the city, Glendale has approved the use of the property formerly occupied by Color Me Mine at 2884 Honolulu Ave. as the location for a new Starbucks Coffee location.

Starbucks currently has numerous locations within the vicinity of the Crescenta Valley area including two locations on Foothill Boulevard in La Crescenta and two in La Cañada in addition to kiosk style retail outlets in area supermarkets.

The new location has drawn controversy from local residents and businesses because its site is across the street from the Coffee Bean & Teal Leaf, whose representatives urged the Planning Hearing Committee earlier this month to deny approval to Starbucks.

“This isn’t about a bias against competition,” said Coffee Bean’s General Counsel Terry Mansky. “This is a massive global chain coming into a village atmosphere. This is Wall Street versus Main Street.”

Others pointed to a scarcity of parking space and concerns over traffic congestion.

Addressing these concerns, Planning Hearing Officer Laura Stotler noted in her report that the evidence provided by Starbucks countering these criticisms was “sufficient to demonstrate that the shared parking facilities will be adequate to serve the needs of the proposed use [by Starbucks].”

Nevertheless, the project also enjoyed wide support among many in the community that felt that a Starbucks could lure foot traffic into the Montrose Shopping Park.

Calls to the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s corporate offices were not returned while a manager at the Montrose location declined to comment on the issue.

Scott Trulik, president of the Montrose-Verdugo City Chamber of Commerce and owner of Ocean View Investments just south of the incoming Starbucks, was cautious about the arrival of the new coffee house.

“We’re always happy to receive new businesses in the area,” he said. “But we still believe that parking, or the lack of it, and traffic will be issues the community will have to deal with.”

  Ted Ayala