'BIG BOX' FOR SMALL CITY?Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer The world's largest home improvement retailer plans to set up shop in Agoura Hills, upsetting some residents who fear overdevelopment Overdevelopment refers to a process by which natural resources are impacted by urbanization and/or road construction, at a rate significantly harmful to the ecosystem. Environmental activism is a frequent response to overdevelopment, as well as are many fields of academic study. and merchants who fear stiff competition. Selleck Development Group wants to build a Home Depot The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services. Headquartered in Vinings, just outside Atlanta in unincorporated Cobb County, Georgia, Home Depot employs more than 355,000 people and operates 2,164 big-box during the first of two phases of a 255,309-square-foot shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into proposed on a 24-acre site at Agoura Road, near the landmark Ladyface Mountain. It would be the first ``big-box'' store in Agoura Hills, a city of 20,537 people. ``One of the reasons I moved to Agoura was it's a small town,'' said Elizabeth Goldbeck, who moved from North Hills 15 years ago. ``It's a great place to raise kids - not a lot of traffic and congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. and your back yard is a wide-open space. ``There are a lot of small businesses that are just fine,'' she said. ``We don't need a humongous store.'' The first phase would include a 115,330-square-foot Home Depot, featuring a 24,344-square-foot garden center and a fast-food restaurant. The second phase would encompass smaller stores. Developer Dan Selleck said he is talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to a variety of potential tenants, including health food markets and sporting goods Noun 1. sporting goods - sports equipment sold as a commodity commodity, trade good, good - articles of commerce sports equipment - equipment needed to participate in a particular sport stores. Selleck, whose developments include shopping centers on Tapo Canyon in Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. and at the former General Motors plant in Van Nuys, said he would comment further on the Agoura Hills project when plans are finalized. An environmental impact report is due out for public comment in June. City special projects coordinator Joyce Parker said the project would require the removal of oak trees and four businesses, the relocation of the county animal shelter, and the widening of Agoura Road from two to four lanes. City officials also plan to do a study on how much tax revenue would be generated from the project and how it would affect smaller businesses. Family-owned Agoura Equipment Rentals is one business that would need to relocate for Home Depot, which also rents out tools. ``I've owned a business here for 35 years,'' said owner Mel Adams, whose store rents everything from quarter-inch drills to Caterpillar tractors. ``If Home Depot comes in it will absolutely cause at least a half-dozen businesses to go out of business. Nobody can compete with Home Depot.'' But Home Depot spokesman Chuck Sifuentes said residents and business people will benefit from the store, which the company hopes to open in 2002. ``We have all the goods and services In economics, economic output is divided into physical goods and intangible services. Consumption of goods and services is assumed to produce utility (unless the "good" is a "bad"). It is often used when referring to a Goods and Services Tax. to help Agoura Hills and neighboring communities to increase the value of their homes,'' Sifuentes said. ``We are simply offering consumers an alternative.'' He said smaller businesses need not fear Home Depot. CAPTION(S): map Map: Proposed shopping center site Daily News |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion