NEWBERG, Ore. — Kelly Gregory is still looking for a new home for Sip Coffee Co., more than three months after the drive-thru stand’s previous location on Oregon 99W closed at the end of May.
Newsberg reported in May that the stand’s landlord had declined to renew its lease and that the business had also outgrown its space. Gregory said finding a replacement site in Newberg has proven difficult, despite steady interest from customers.
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“The biggest wonder to me in all of this is how much of the community wants us back, but how hard it is to have either a single business owner be interested, or the permitting allow us to be in a spot where we can,” Gregory said. “Those two are just like they never work together.”
Gregory said she has pursued several vacant lots and storefronts in Newberg and Dundee this year, including sites near auto dealerships and retail centers along Oregon 99W. She said she has not been able to reach an agreement with a property or business owner willing to lease or sublease space for a stand-alone drive-thru. The stand does need electricity and plumbing hookups, but Gregory said Sip Coffee Co. would be responsible for the installation and eventual removal investment of those features.
She said downtown Newberg is largely off the table because of city zoning rules. Under Note 21 of the Newberg Municipal Code’s zoning use table (NMC 15.305.020), new drive-up service windows are prohibited in the C-3 zone, which includes downtown Newberg, unless they were already in service by April 1, 2002. The code specifies that changes in use to add a new drive-up window are not permitted in that zone.
In the meantime, Gregory said she had already ordered a second stand — double the width of her existing one — from a manufacturer in Washington state before learning of the lease termination.
“The purpose of that is that it will essentially be two shops in one, so the bar will be mirrored left and right, double,” Gregory said. “Two machines, double the fridge space, double the counter space. We’ll have five or six [grinders] instead of the two.”
Gregory said she had hoped to reopen before the start of the school year, a timeline that has now passed.
“I really wanted it by school starting,” Gregory said, noting that she has a child who is now a high school senior. “I had really hoped by the end of the summer to have a spot.”
Gregory said she remains focused on reopening in Newberg over any other community in the region.
“I really want a spot in Newberg, and I will be looking till we get one,” Gregory said.
Property owners or community members with leads on a potential site can contact Gregory at sipcoffeenewberg@gmail.com.
