ENCINITAS — City Council voted June 25 to deny an appeal of the Planning Commission’s decision to approve the building of a Walgreens at the northwest corner of El Camino Real and Encinitas Boulevard.

Despite the objections of numerous residents in the surrounding neighborhood and businesses in the shopping across from the proposed site, the council sided with city staff’s recommendation to proceed with the original plans in a 4-1 vote. Councilwoman Teresa Barth dissented.

Encinitas resident Donna Westbrook filed the appeal in an effort to thwart the development of the 11,343-square-foot drugstore adjacent to the Bank of America. In her application, Westbrook cited traffic concerns among other reasons to deny the project. The new development plans to house a 24-hour drive through pharmacy and would bring too many additional visitors to the already congested area she said.

To mitigate the additional traffic entering the drugstore, officials agreed to the Planning Commission’s recommendation to widen El Camino Real and Encinitas Boulevard with dedicated right hand turn lanes along the south bound and west bound routes.

The city’s traffic department recommended the installation of a median in the center of El Camino Real that would prevent customers exiting the Henry’s shopping center from turning west on Encinitas Boulevard. Residents from the surrounding neighborhoods told the council that the proposed median would increase cut-through traffic.

Eric Tran, owner of Rancho Park Pharmacy, said that the current shops in the Henry’s center operate at a disadvantage that would increase with the addition of the Walgreens. “By building a center median it’s going to reduce access to our center,” Tran said. “It’s not only going to effect me but everyone in that center,” he said.

Tran warned that busy shoppers would choose the route of least resistance. “Eventually they are going to avoid our center,” he said. “I think that becomes an unfair advantage to Walgreens.” The Henry’s shopping center was built in 1974 and houses several small businesses.

Jeff Skiljan, a resident in the surrounding neighborhood behind the Henry’s shopping center said that the traffic study paid for by Walgreens was inherently biased. “As a result (of the traffic study) staff said based on the traffic study we don’t need an EIR (environmental impact review),” he said. The best interest of the community should be controlling when reviewing an application for a variance, Skiljan said.

According to staff, the Traffic Commission will decide what type of median should be imposed along El Camino Real with final approval by City Council.

Barth said the project seemed incompatible with the general plan’s land-use element that calls for future developments to be sensitive to current residents, homes and businesses. She said the policy also called for easy access and a community need when considering a shopping center development. “I think we’re pretty good on pharmacies,” she said.