Patrons of the Trancas Country Mart shopping center will have to adjust their comings and goings, after the rear parking lot that had remained open during the ongoing construction to expand the shopping center closed Friday. The front parking lot (in front of the now-empty grocery store which used to be HOWS Market), which had been closed, has now been opened.
The change should make it easier to get to Starbucks and other businesses in the front portion of the shopping center facing Pacific Coast Highway, but harder to get to Trancas Canyon Nursery and the Sea Lily in the back.
The rear parking lot is expected to remain closed due to construction for the next two to three months. In the meantime, a newly built stairway entrance on Trancas Canyon Road will accommodate foot traffic to Trancas Canyon Nursery and Sea Lily. The closest parking for customers of those businesses will be on Trancas Canyon Road.
Debbi Stone, the co-owner of Trancas Canyon Nursery, is offering free local delivery for customers during the time the rear parking lot is closed, especially for bulky and heavy items that would be difficult to carry up the temporary stairway entrance. She said the nursery will be “fully operating with a full inventory” during the construction process, and that they’re “bringing new plants in” all the time.
Although Stone anticipates some drop in business during the rear parking lot closure, she said the transitional period will give them the time they need to re-organize the nursery so that it faces a new entrance area. They also plan on re-doing the waterfall, putting an oceanview sitting area at the property’s high point near a planned walking path, and making other improvements. The chickens and ducks will be there during the entire process.
Stone said the newly remodeled shopping center is being designed as a destination in itself – a place where people can come and spend the day; and she looks forward to its completion.