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Albertsons to break ground after spring rains
By Chris Mac Kenzie
The Alpine Sun
ALPINE — “It’s taken a lot longer that we had ever planned, but we’re getting there, slowly. I guess we’ll be breaking ground in April after the rainy season is over,” said Larry Tucker, partner in Grant Tucker Properties, the developer for the Albertsons property at the corner of Alpine Boulevard and South Grade Road.
“The county and the permit process is almost finished,” he continued. “We had to rework some of the engineering reports and now have to resolve all the remaining design details. The conceptual site plans for all projects have to be taken from the conceptual stage to the very specific design detail that is necessary to actually build a project. That part has been moving slower that it should have been.”
One of the steps that is pretty well solidified is the plan for a traffic signal at the five-way intersection of Alpine Boulevard, West Victoria Drive and Arnold Way.
“We’ll be investing well over $100,000 for a complicated five-way signal that must be in place before store opens,” Tucker said.
A second traffic signal is also called for in the plans. It would be mounted at the eastern intersection of Alpine Boulevard, Victoria Drive and South Grade, a corner which has already been noted to have traffic problems.
“We’ll pay $57,000 toward a traffic signal here with the board of supervisors finding the money for the other half,” Tucker said.
Plans for the development have not changed substantially since it all began back in 1998 and Albertsons closed escrow on the property in September 2004. The plans call for the store itself to have 52,000 square feet, reduced from 58,000 originally requested. There would also be a 9,000 square-foot pad for other smaller shops to be built immediately, and another 5,000 square-foot pad for later development. Finally, a 5,000 square-foot pad would be reserved, intended for either a fast food store with a drive-in lane or a bank, also with a lane. That would be located on the corner of South Grade and Highland View.
Albertsons expects that a good chunk of its clientele will come from the communities to the east and to the south, saving the residents six to eight miles of travel down the hill to Von’s. Tucker also believes strongly that Alpine’s population growth will continue in the years ahead, assuring a successful financial future for the property.
Tucker also pointed out that some of the delay is the result of court suits entered by Save Our Forests and Ranchlands on environmental grounds. The suit was settled out of court.
“If I’d known that we’d have so many other delays with the county’s permit process, I think I’d have let it go to appeals. We could have been working on the design process at the same time.”
He also answered a question that residents have been asking recently after seeing a few pieces of heavy equipment working on the property.
“They were doing some necessary soil tests,” he said, “not starting to clear land for building.”
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