Round Rock City Leaders Decry Proposed Starbucks Site

ROUND ROCK, TX -- Coffee has city officials on edge -- not the actual liquid, but a proposed Starbucks location they say could lead to traffic congestion.

The proposed coffee shop at the northwest corner of Gattis School Road and Red Bud Lane has drawn the concern of city council officials who fear its presence may lead to coffee junkies unwittingly creating traffic jams as they buy their morning pick-me-up.

As reported by the Austin American-Statesman, the Starbucks location is being proposed for a small tract of land near the HEB shopping center. Less than half an acre, the acreage is being developed for retail space, with the Starbucks site included in the mix.

The java place will be next to two single-family homes in the Lake Forest subdivision. It’s that proximity to family life that has city leaders worried as it relates to coffee junkies frequenting the place en masse to get their fix.

Even after the Lake Forest Homeowners Association president and some homeowners have endorsed the Starbucks site after its developers agreed to construction concessions, city leaders remain worried.

City Planning Director Brad Wiseman recently noted current city code requires that patios and drive-thru lanes must be, at minimum, 150 feet away from homes.

The city’s mayor, Alan McGraw, has weighed in with his own caffeine condemnation. He points to an existing Starbuck at Sam Bass Road and Interstate 35 where traffic sometimes spills over onto adjacent streets as patrons seek to retrieve the coveted nectar.

“And they sit there -- I’ll say it, very rudely -- holding up a major arterial so they can get their cup of coffee,” he said in voicing his opposition to the proposed coffee shop in the city’s midst.

Starbucks officials have made various concessions toward peaceful coexistence -- patio railing with landscaping, no amplified outdoor music, no light fixtures over 20 feet high -- but it hasn’t quelled its coffee critics.

Current city code mandates a six-foot-tall masonry fence be built, Wiseman has countered. He also has demanded that eight, 18-foot-tall live oak trees be planted around the offending coffee shop.

Starbucks officials acceded to all requests. But council ire over its construction went unabated.

“They have the ability to address it, “ council member Craig Morgan intoned. “Whereas the Sam Bass [location] -- there’s no way around it. It really shouldn’t be there.”

The Great Coffee Wars in Round Rock are on.