11-07-07-WS/PC - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Page I of I James Lehnhoff Sent: To: From: Becky Sather [becky,sather@comcast.net] Saturday, September 29, 2007 6:23 PM James Lehnhoff; sjharpstead@comcast.net; David_Grant; holdenbj24@aol.com; franh116@aol.com; dvaidmcclung@comcast.net Subject: Opposition to Walgreens Mr. Lehnhoff, Mayor Harpstead and Council members, I know you have received many letters from residents (and non-residents) about the possibility of a Walgreens being built on the comer of Lexington Avenue and County Road E. I read all 38 of them (only four were in favor!) that were attached to the handouts for the Planning Commission's meeting of September 5. I am not in favor of these big corporations - Walgreens, CVS - coming in and chasing the local, smaller businesses out. To my knowledge, Arden Pharmacy has been in that location for over 25 years. Arden Pharmacy is a wonderful, helpful, friendly store and I know many others agree, I'm sure it won't take long after Walgreens would be there for Arden Pharmacy to have to close their doors! I have previously emailed the Mayor and learned that if Wellington abides by the city's general development guidelines (e.g, setbacks, green space, parking, signage, maximum lot coverage, etc.) you would have no justification to stop the development or deny the property owner the ability to implement their plans, Because of this I am hopeful that the traffic impact report will prove that a business like Walgreens will only exacerbate the already high level of traffic at that intersection. If that is shown then I hope you would deny Wellington's request as I cannot imagine why the Council would want to make this area more dangerous by added traffic! Many people walk to Arden Plaza and added traffic would make walking across Lexington from local businesses more dangerous. Increased traffic will bring more congestion, not to mention higher levels of exhaust! And what about landscaping? There are big, well-developed trees on the north and east sides of the PODS. Are all those trees, that must be 15-20 years old, going to be removed to put in a Walgreens? I would suspect that they will be torn out and that they will NOT be replaced. Why would the city want to agree to that? Trees are an important benefit to our environment! It is extremely unfortunate that this parcel of land, zoned as B-2 (General Business), has no special requirements for this area, Several years ago Walgreens tried to come to the northwest comer of this intersection, With all the CVS and Walgreens that have popped up in the last several years, it's somewhat surprising that the Council didn't take action to put some restrictions on the zoning of the land at all comers of the intersection of County E and Lexington. As the Walgreens development was denied for the northwest comer of Lexington and County E, what about this proposal qualifies it for the southwest comer? In my opinion, there is little justification. I did listen to the Planning Commission meeting of September 5 and was disturbed by the developer's comment about the Post Office in Arden Pharmacy. A question was asked about what would happen to the mailboxes that are on the sidewalk outside of Arden Pharmacy. The developer thought the question was in reference to the Post Office inside Arden Pharmacy and said it would probably be removed or have to go. Why is he having anything to say about what is inside of Arden Pharmacy and what will happen to it? Is that not the business of the owner of the pharmacy or perhaps the Post Office? This developer does not care about the smaller businesses, He only cares about what goes into his wallet! Please do whatever you can to stop this development from proceeding. Thank you, Becky Sather Arden Hills Resident for 29 years II/I/2007