CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Walgreens, one of the nation's leading drugstore chains, is about to open its first store in Charleston, and another store is under construction in Hurricane.

But another store planned on Oakwood Road just off Corridor G is apparently on hold and in danger of losing a zoning variance later this month.

The West Side Walgreens, on West Washington Street at the foot of Edgewood Drive, is virtually complete but has run into a snag with city sign regulations. Carl Andrews, lawyer for project developers Ed Street Co., will ask Charleston Urban Renewal Authority board members Wednesday for a variance of their sign rules.

The store, originally scheduled to open before Christmas, should open by March 1, Andrews said. "Or earlier ... as soon as we get this one sign variance. I know the developer would like to get it opened earlier."

No one at Ed Street offices in Johnson City, Tenn., could be reached for comment Monday on the status of the West Side project or the store they are building in Putnam County. Rick Presley of Knoxville, developer of the Oakwood Road store, did not return a call Monday, nor did Walgreens' real-estate department in Illinois.

Street was forced to revise its signage plans for the West Side store late last year after the location was absorbed in the expanded West Side Community Renewal Plan, which City Council adopted in June 2008, CURA Director Pat Brown said.

Sign rules for the Village District along West Washington Street are more stringent than the city sign regulations that applied earlier, when the lot was in a C-10 (commercial) zone, he said.

"So no pole signs, and the W is too big," Brown said. Walgreen stores typically have the name, Walgreens, spelled out on the side of the building in large letters. But the proposed W in the sign, at about 5 feet tall, exceeds the 30-inch limit in the urban renewal area, he said.

Andrews said he hopes to get permission to put up a pole sign, and to reach a compromise on the size of the letters.

Construction of the Hurricane store, along W.Va. 34 at the corner of Hurricane Creek Road, began several months ago, Hurricane City Manager Ben Newhouse said. Stormwater work and culverts have been completed, and walls are being built, he said.

Progress could be slow during the winter until the building is weather-tight, Andrews said. He said he hasn't heard a proposed opening date.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Walgreens, one of the nation's leading drugstore chains, is about to open its first store in Charleston, and another store is under construction in Hurricane.

But another store planned on Oakwood Road just off Corridor G is apparently on hold and in danger of losing a zoning variance later this month.

The West Side Walgreens, on West Washington Street at the foot of Edgewood Drive, is virtually complete but has run into a snag with city sign regulations. Carl Andrews, lawyer for project developers Ed Street Co., will ask Charleston Urban Renewal Authority board members Wednesday for a variance of their sign rules.

The store, originally scheduled to open before Christmas, should open by March 1, Andrews said. "Or earlier ... as soon as we get this one sign variance. I know the developer would like to get it opened earlier."

No one at Ed Street offices in Johnson City, Tenn., could be reached for comment Monday on the status of the West Side project or the store they are building in Putnam County. Rick Presley of Knoxville, developer of the Oakwood Road store, did not return a call Monday, nor did Walgreens' real-estate department in Illinois.

Street was forced to revise its signage plans for the West Side store late last year after the location was absorbed in the expanded West Side Community Renewal Plan, which City Council adopted in June 2008, CURA Director Pat Brown said.

Sign rules for the Village District along West Washington Street are more stringent than the city sign regulations that applied earlier, when the lot was in a C-10 (commercial) zone, he said.

"So no pole signs, and the W is too big," Brown said. Walgreen stores typically have the name, Walgreens, spelled out on the side of the building in large letters. But the proposed W in the sign, at about 5 feet tall, exceeds the 30-inch limit in the urban renewal area, he said.

Andrews said he hopes to get permission to put up a pole sign, and to reach a compromise on the size of the letters.

Construction of the Hurricane store, along W.Va. 34 at the corner of Hurricane Creek Road, began several months ago, Hurricane City Manager Ben Newhouse said. Stormwater work and culverts have been completed, and walls are being built, he said.

Progress could be slow during the winter until the building is weather-tight, Andrews said. He said he hasn't heard a proposed opening date.

A year ago, several city agencies cleared the way for the proposed South Hills Walgreens. At the request of Rick Presley of MG&P Development Partnership, the Municipal Planning Commission and City Council changed the zoning of a lot on Oakwood Road from residential (R-6) to commercial (C-8).

Board of Zoning Review members then approved a variance that would allow Presley to build a store that straddles two separately owned pieces of property, which he would lease on a long-term basis.

The zoning change is permanent, but the variance came with a one-year time limit, said Libby Ballard of the city's Planning Department. The variance expires Jan. 24 unless Presley obtains a building permit. So far, he hasn't done so.

"As far as I know, we haven't heard from them since they got their clearances through the commission," Ballard said.

Tony Harmon, the city building commissioner, said he hasn't heard from Presley. "Nothing's proposed yet, but I do understand they will start as soon as they open the West Side store," he said Monday. "We may give them a call from this office to see what they want to do."

With 6,636 stores as of Thursday - 771 in Florida alone - and plans to open nearly 500 more this year, Walgreens bills itself as the largest chain in the country. But it only recently moved into West Virginia, where it goes head to head with Rite Aid.

It opened a store in Morgantown in 2006 and has since added locations in Beaver, Beckley, Princeton, Elkins, Martinsburg and Summersville.

But like other companies, Walgreens is apparently feeling the effects of the national recession. It announced a "Rewiring for Growth" plan Thursday in which it will eliminate about 1,000 corporate and management jobs through early retirements and involuntary severance programs. It was not immediately clear whether the program affects Walgreens store-building plans.

Reach Jim Balow

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