Walgreens planning Kihei store | News, Sports, Jobs

Walgreens is planning its fourth full-service store on Maui – on a nearly 2-acre site along South Kihei Road, next to McDonald’s, that’s used as a gravel parking lot and as an open-air market for handicraft vendors.

In a draft environmental assessment submitted to the state, store developers aim to open the $3 million, 14,550-square-foot store in 2017, but the project needs a change of zoning, a special management area permit and a special flood hazard area development permit, among other government approvals.

“Walgreens Kihei is an infill retail development responding to current retail and consumer demand,” the project description says. “A retail and pharmaceutical store is proposed to support existing and emerging Kihei population.”

Walgreens already has three full-sized stores on Maui – one in Kahului at the intersection of Kamehameha and Puunene avenues, one in Wailuku on Waiale Road, and one in Lahaina on Keawe Street. It also has a couple of pharmacies in Wailuku town, on Market and Main streets.

The project site is bordered by South Kihei Road, McDonald’s, single-family homes and Nohokai Street.

The development will need a change of zoning from residential to community business for four parcels on the site, according to the project’s draft environmental assessment.

Plans call for 12,050 square feet of the single-story building to be devoted to retail sales, while the remaining 2,500 square feet would be set aside for storage. A pharmacy drive-thru window is proposed.

Vehicle access to the property would be via South Kihei Road, Nohokai Street and an interconnection from the McDonald’s parking lot.

Project plans also call for the 12-foot widening of both South Kihei Road and Nohokai Street, the installation of new sidewalks and drainage improvements in the low-lying area, which is prone to flooding.

Vendor Tom Benda of Maui Trading Post said last week that he knew something might be happening with the property next to McDonald’s when he saw a crew drilling the ground, taking core samples.

“It’s hard to make a plan right off the bat,” he said when asked about Walgreens’ plans for the property now used as an open-air market. “We don’t know when it will close or if it will close. I’m sure we’ll all land someplace, happily all together. We’re like a family in here. It would be a bummer to break up the family.”

Public comments on the proposed project are due June 22.

Comments may be sent to:

* The applicant, Walgreen of Maui Inc., 106 Wilmot Road, MS No. 1620, Deerfield, IL 60015. The contact is Lawrence Adler, (847) 315-6811.

* The approving agency, the Maui County Planning Department, 250 S. High St., Wailuku 96793. Contact is Ann Cua or Candace Thackerson, 270-7735.

* The consultant, PBR Hawaii & Associates Inc., 1001 Bishop St., Suite 650, Honolulu 96813. Contact is Keli’i Kapali, (808) 521-5631 or 523-1402 (fax).

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