ENCINITAS -- Anyone who wants to weigh in on plans for a new Rite-Aid store on Manchester Avenue at Encinitas Boulevard can address the Planning Commission on Thursday.

The commission is scheduled to conduct an "issue identification hearing," where commissioners will discuss plans for the store and receive public comment, but take no action to approve or reject the project.

In particular, city planners want commissioners to respond to the proposed parking layout at the 1-acre site, as well as the store's plan to sell alcohol, planner Diane Langager said Monday.

The Rite-Aid proposal probably will be ready for a Planning Commission vote in June, said Kelly Arndt, assistant city planner.

The 9,800-square-foot store would be the largest retail business in the small commercial district serving Olivenhain, a rural community in east Encinitas that borders Rancho Santa Fe.

Small strip malls and offices surround the lot, where seasonal vendors sell Christmas trees and pumpkins.

The Olivenhain Town Council's board is aware of the planned store, but has not taken a position for or against it, said Bruce Ehlers, a town council member and City Hall watchdog.

The council is a community group with no formal ties to city hall.

Olivenhain, one of five Encinitas communities, clings dearly to its woodsy flavor.

In response to concerns raised by some town council members, the architect has reworked the building's design, but "it still looks substantially like a Rite-Aid out of Irvine," Ehlers said.

Steve Jordan, the project's architect, could not be reached for comment on Monday. His firm, Tarlos and Associates, is based in Irvine.

Documents from the firm state that designers have addressed neighbors' concerns by adding a wood trellis system and more landscaping to exterior walls. The new plans show a one-foot reduction in height of the main walls and a four-foot reduction in height of the portico.

"Wherever we can, we do work with the community to respect the uniqueness of what the community is asking for," said Jody Cook, a Rite-Aid spokeswoman.

Architectural renderings show a beige stucco building with red-tile roofing.

An original proposal, from one year ago, fell nine parking spaces short of the city's 49-space requirement. A revised plan includes all 49 spaces, but some of them would cut into portions of the site that should be reserved for landscaping, according to a city staff report.

Also, some of the spaces would require customers or employees to walk across driveways to reach the entrance of the store. Other parking spaces are accessible only by a drive-through lane for the pharmacy. City guidelines discourage such layouts.

Commissioners on Thursday also are scheduled to debate alcohol sales at the proposed store. Rite-Aid has proposed setting aside 396 square feet, or 4 percent of the floor area, for alcohol sales, which would account for about 7 percent of receipts.

At least one neighbor, an administrator of a nearby private school, has raised concerns over alcohol sales.

"(The Rhoades School) asks that considerable thought and controls be in place to monitor alcohol use and abuse in the neighborhood as a result of sales," Luanne Kittle, director of the school, wrote in planning documents. On Monday, she added, "We're not opposed to Rite-Aid and not opposed to alcohol sales, but we want it done right."

The Rhoades School on Encinitas Boulevard serves 300 students in kindergarten through eighth grades.

Pennsylvania-based Rite-Aid owns and operates 3,300 stores in 27 states, Cook said.

In Encinitas, a Rite-Aid Pharmacy operates on Santa Fe Drive, in the same building a Thrifty-Payless drugstore occupied before Rite-Aid acquired those chains.

The proposed pharmacy on Manchester would be the only one in Olivenhain and would draw customers from nearby Rancho Santa Fe.

The Planning Commission meets at 6 p.m. Thursday at 505 S. Vulcan Ave.

Contact staff writer Adam Kaye at (760) 943-2312 or akaye@nctimes.com. To comment, go to nctimes.com.