By Jason KUROSU

When the idea for a Starbucks in Montrose was proposed, business owners and residents alike were split between excitement and apprehension. After clearing some hurdles for parking reduction permits, the Starbucks is nearing a late August to early September arrival at 2284 Honolulu Avenue where Color Me Mine, and before that Once Upon A Time, previously stood.

Starbucks representatives showcased their proposals for the Montrose Starbucks in October of 2011 at the Montrose Shopping Park Association’s regular monthly meeting. Attended by various business owners, several expressed concerns over whether Starbucks would take parking away from other businesses, while others argued that a Starbucks would disrupt Montrose’s collection of Mom and Pop stores. Still others were supportive of the business a Starbucks would bring overall to Montrose.

MSPA president Ken Grayson said after that meeting, “I sent an email to the city stating that I was okay with a Starbucks in our community.” Like his fellow business owners, Grayson said his only concern was over parking, but he also said, “Parking problems can also be a good thing, meaning that if there’s parking problems, we’re probably drawing a good amount of business as a community.”

Earlier this year, Starbucks’ request for a parking reduction permit was approved by the city of Glendale. The permit allows Starbucks to have less than the 14 parking spaces normally required for a fast food restaurant.

At present, construction crews are completing work at the corner of Honolulu Avenue and Ocean View Boulevard. Work has been delayed about a week due to minor structural issues, including replacing the old sewage system.

General Supervisor for the Montrose Starbucks Dan O’ Neal said that the Starbucks could have opened up even earlier, but minor issues kept them from doing so.

“It’s an old building, so we keep finding little surprises,” said O’Neal. “We’re just working on bringing the building up to code. I would imagine that an opening in September would be accurate.”

  Charly Shelton, Jason Kurosu