Inside the former Apple Tree market and future site of CVS Pharmacy.
The OB Planning Board has a meeting this Wednesday, Dec.4th and CVS Pharmacy’s requested alcohol permit is an agenda item. CVS is planning to move into the former Apple Tree Market building on Santa Monica Avenue in downtown OB.
At last month’s Planning Board meeting, Gretchen Newsom, the head of the OB Town Council, had requested CVS to provide a “Community Benefits Package” and to detail how CVS proposes to involve itself in the local community. For example, the local Rite Aid has refused to provide assistance with the annual OB Food and Toy Drive by declining to host our donation collection canisters – and the OBTC wanted to know if CVS would follow similar “corporate policies” whereby the assistance and benefit to the local community are non-existent or severely deficient.
The Ocean Beach Town Council did extensive work on rewriting the Community Benefits Package to its current condition. CVS has agreed to their revisions and requests.
While it is unfortunate that the property owner was not successful in leasing the Apple Tree lot to another grocer (as desired and advocated by the community and OB leaders), CVS is adament that they want to be a long term OB community partner and they have taken steps to address community concerns about their sale of alchol and their benefit to the Ocean Beach community.
Especially noteworthy items that the Ocean Beach Town Council successfuly advocated for inclusion in the Community Benefits Package include the following:
- CVS will preserve and restore the existing mural (less Apple Tree name), or replace it with a new mural from a community artist that CVS agrees to select with community involvement and/or host a community art mural produced at the Ocean Beach Street Fair.
- CVS commits to supporting the annual OB Food and Toy Drive by hosting receptacles for community donations of money, food, and toys.
- CVS will participate with the community in efforts to make any surplus parking open for public use for community businesses (i.e. potentially making this a free parking lot)
- CVS will enhance Ocean Beach’s food access by offering a variety of groceries, including refrigerated items (such as milk and eggs) and canned and boxed items (such as cereal , canned soup, frozen vegetables), and CVS will evaluate the feasibility of offering a limited selection of fresh produce contingent on food and safety regulations and permitting.
- CVS supports the local economy and will provide a process whereby local vendors and suppliers can submit products to be sold within the Ocean Beach CVS location (e.g. – Direct Store Delivery Supplier system or DSD). (an example might be selling James Gang T-Shirts the OB CVS)
- CVS will be supportive of a plastic bag ban ordinance (as passed by the City of Solana Beach and considered for enactment by the City of San Diego) and will sell reusable recycled totes.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I like most of what is being asked of CVS. Just a quick thought, though. I can’t blame Rite-Aid for discontinuing the clothing/toy drive. I went by their lot many times during the holiday season the last few years, and after several days the transients would knock the canisters down or pull everything out of them leaving clothing etc strewn all across the lot. The wind would end up blowing many articles all over the block. What’s the point? I’m all for clothing/toy drives, but there has to be a common sense way to do it in OB without causing even more items strewn about the ground of our village. It’s a shame we can’t do it in a normal fashion like most communities.
Tyler: The Food and Toy Drive that the Ocean Beach Town Council organizes includes small cannisters for change/money donations (they look like decorated coffee canisters) – this is what Rite Aid was asked to host. The Food and Toy Drive also includes large boxes for new toys and canned food that are decorated by local OB Elementary School children which are placed INSIDE local businesses. Donations are collected and brought to the Point Loma Methodist Church for sorting and wrapping. We run a great Food & Toy drive that helps more than 80 local families and seniors in need. I’m not sure what canisters you’re referring – but I don’t think they’re ours. We hope you’ll lend a hand in helping our Food & Toy Drive – details are on our calendar: http://obtowncouncil.org/events/
~Gretchen Kinney Newsom
President, OB Town Council
I think Tyler is referring to the large metal bins that the Salvation Army (or maybe Goodwill) puts out. They look like giant bear-proof trash cans. They are a bit of a mess, and don’t seem to get emptied on a regular enough basis. I think people will just leave bags of clothes next to them if they can’t fit them in. But they’re definitely not an OBTC-related program.
Thanks for the clarifications.
Glad to see OBTC getting “active” on community issues….I wonder if OBTC called for charges to be dropped on Vince Adame who is actively keeping our community tidy :-)
Please check out SD Readers obermeyer this week……so true!
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/photos/galleries/obermeyer/26985/
Debbie – thanks for the heads up. See our next post.
ooops….posted this on the wrong article….Sorry :-(
I would very much love to see a Trader Joe’s or some other small grocery chain in the former Apple Tree location. What OB does NOT need is another Rite Aide/CVS type store. It really needs a grocery store.
So would a lot of people, but alas, it’s beyond that. No entity besides CVS has stepped up, as far as we know.
Exactly, Frank. People can complain all they want, but at the end of the day I’d rather have a store that takes care of the property and keeps its historical look than have it sitting unused and blighted. Plus the fact that HOPEFULLY the old Apple Tree owner will now open up a grocery store out of the old B of A building since he knows a grocery won’t go into the old location.
While I was visiting my local Trader Joe’s I asked the young clerk if the store had franchise opportunities as I would be interested in same. He said privately held corporation by a family. I was delighted to see that he was aware of this information. I then returned home and sent TJs corporate a communication that OB would be a perfect location for a new store should the opportunity arise particularly due to its demographics. — Kat