HOME DEPOT OPPOSITION INCREASES PETITION THREATENS BOYCOTT IF SUNLAND KMART REPLACED.Byline: Rick Coca Staff Writer Supported by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. and Councilwoman Wendy Greuel Wendy Greuel is President Pro Tempore of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 2nd District. Greuel was elected in 2002 to fill the remainder of the term of Councilman Joel Wachs. She was elected in her own right in 2003 and reelected in 2007. , Sunland-Tujunga activists opposed to a planned 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 have collected more than 2,000 signatures of residents vowing to boycott boycott, concerted economic or social ostracism of an individual, group, or nation to express disapproval or coerce change. The practice was named (1880) after Capt. the home-improvement center if it opens. The move is the latest in a community battle against a Home Depot at the Sunland Kmart site on Foothill Boulevard The following streets are named Foothill Boulevard:
Opponents say Sunland needs a general-merchandise store - there currently are none nearby - more than a Home Depot, which they fear will drive smaller retailers out of business and bring a glut glut pronounced as rut, slut Vox populi An excess of a service or skilled labor in a particular area. See Physician glut. of traffic and other problems. ``Who can afford to drive all the way to Valencia to get underwear?'' said 41-year-old resident Paula Warner, who along with her husband, Caryl, has joined a coalition of community residents calling their group the No On Home Depot Campaign. Home Depot officials did not return calls seeking comment, but in the past they have noted that their chain, the nation's largest retailer of home-improvement supplies, brings community benefits including new jobs, volunteer projects and increased tax revenue. Greuel said Home Depot representatives irked her last year after they ignored her request to meet with residents and address their concerns before filing an application for new zoning permits to build a larger structure on the Sunland property. ``I went ballistic bal·lis·tic adj. 1. a. Of or relating to the study of the dynamics of projectiles. b. Of or relating to the study of the internal action of firearms. 2. ,'' Greuel said. ``I wrote (Home Depot) one of the nastiest letters I ever wrote.'' Since then, Home Depot representatives have met several times with Greuel and with members of the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council, as well as with representatives of the No on Home Depot Campaign. Home Depot can legally move into the Kmart building or demolish de·mol·ish tr.v. de·mol·ished, de·mol·ish·ing, de·mol·ish·es 1. To tear down completely; raze. 2. To do away with completely; put an end to. 3. it and build within the original facility's footprint, leaving community activists and political leaders with little legal recourse, analysts said. But those who have attended meetings with negotiators for Home Depot quoted company representatives as saying that, as long as a new Home Depot is located at the 10-acre site, they would consider creating a mixed-use plan with several smaller buildings for retail and commercial use. Representatives of the chain also have entertained the possibility of allowing a general-merchandise store either on top of or next to a new Home Depot. They have indicated that, if a consensus could not be reached, they would open a new Home Depot in the Kmart building without expanding the 99,330 square feet under roof, as they had originally planned. Rick Coca, (818) 713-3634 rick.coca(at)dailynews.com |
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