For the week of June 16, 1999  thru June 23, 1999  

New Texaco-Taco Bell finds home in Hailey


By HANS IBOLD
Express Staff Writer

A new Texaco gas station and convenience store with a drive-through Taco Bell restaurant is coming to Main Street in Hailey.

After months of wrangling over traffic, safety and aesthetic issues, the Hailey City Council approved developer Rene Bine’s application Monday night.

The 4,000-square-foot convenience store and restaurant and a 3,800-square-foot canopy over five gas pumps will be developed at 701 North Main Street, across from the Uptown Mini-Mart and McDonald’s restaurant.

The new Texaco could be operational by November, according to Bine.

Bine found himself in council chambers after appealing the planning and zoning commission’s denial of the application earlier this year.

At one of the three appeal hearings, held in late March, Bine’s attorney, Ed Lawson, said that the P&Z denial was too discretionary and not based on code mandates.

Lawson also asserted that Bine’s proposed design, modeled after a Texaco prototype, was consistent with neighboring business uses.

At that March meeting, the council approved the application with conditions.

Those conditions were reflected in the design that Bine and Lawson presented Monday night.

They included:

  • Taco Bell’s seating must be limited to 10 indoor seats and no outdoor seats.

  • An access to River Street must be developed.

  • The black and red corporate colors of Texaco must be toned down.

  • All exterior lighting must be downcast and shielded.

  • Free-standing fixtures must be limited to no more than 15 feet in height.

  • No exterior loudspeaker can be used by the restaurant.

  • An odor control system must be provided.

Access to River Street received the most attention from council members Monday night.

That access, which councilwoman Martha Burke called the "critical part of the whole equation," will mitigate traffic from State Highway 75 and make pedestrian traffic safer.

In addition, council members saw red when they saw the Texaco corporate red beaming from Bine’s drawings.

"It kind of looks like someone cut their finger," councilwoman Susan McBryant said of the Texaco facade depicted in drawings.

Bine agreed to all of the conditions and said he would work with council members to develop a suitable color scheme.

 

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