Story Photos
 Photo by Greg Ebersole Longview City Council members Susan Stockard and Dennis Weber listen during lawyer Alan Engstrom's presentation. |
Council approves Lowe's
Friday, January 14, 2005 7:37 AM PST
By Tony Lystra
Printable version
E-mail this articleIn an unprecedented reversal, the Longview City Council on Thursday agreed to allow Lowe's to build a home improvement store in the 2800 block of Ocean Beach Highway.
After more than four hours of deliberation and testimony, the council revised the city's comprehensive plan, which previously stated the land should be used only for homes, and cleared the way for Lowe's 163,000-square-foot store. The council also rezoned the land, which had been designated for residential uses.
In the 5-1 votes, Councilman Kurt Anagnostou was the only dissenter. Councilwoman Ramona Leber, who lives near the site, recused herself.
In November, the council killed the project, saying altering the plan would amount to piecemeal planning. Less than a month later, the city's planning commission demanded that the council revisit the matter, saying the council had ignored its hours of work. The commission, an advisory board, had recommended the project's approval in October.
On Thursday, council members said they changed their mind because the city needs jobs and tax revenues. Council members also said that turning away the Mooresville, N.C., company risked giving the city a bad reputation among corporations.
Mayor Mark McCrady recalled the mills and plants that have shut down during the last decade. "Longview, founded as a mill town, is changing on its axis," he said. The city's economy is increasingly based on services and retail, he said.
"The concerns about a new business, a new wave of retailing crushing the small business, I'm sensitive to your opinion, but the free market system made the country great," McCrady told the project's opponents.
Several critics scoffed from the audience as Susan Stockard said, "I'm not a person who changes my ways easily."
"I think this has been the worst thing since having kids, let me tell you," she said. "I feel like I've been through a hurricane."
Stockard said she voted in favor of the proposal, because the community needs what she assumed would be minimum-wage jobs.
"I have kids that work in those jobs. They're very important," she said. "We have a lot of people in our community that don't have jobs."
Councilman Kurt Anagnostou said he voted against the proposal because he wants to save Ocean Beach Highway from the urban sprawl that has plagued metro areas such as parts of Portland.
"It's going to domino down the road if we allow this kind of spot change," he said. "Or the alternative is we get sued."
Stephen Gale, a Lowe's executive who oversaw the proposal for the company, said he was, "very pleased with the outcome."
The company, he said, "came to the conclusion that this was the logical expansion of an existing commercial district."
Gale said he wants to break ground "as soon as we possibly can."
Building plans for the store are still subject to approval.
At its core, the debate was about how and where the city should grow.
For more than three hours, residents spoke before the council. Dozens lined each side of packed council chambers and took turns at the podium. A police officer stood at the head of each line.
Opponents argued that the store would create too much traffic, that allowing the store would open the rest of the highway to additional commercial development, that their homes would lose value. They said the city would be trading its quality of life for minimum wage jobs.
"People in this area do not want this big store here," said Longview resident Bridget Van Fleet. "It may be a nice store and sell fine products. But why does it have to be in this neighborhood? This is why people are angry and upset."
"How often have you had to place policemen in your chambers in the past?" she asked.
Lowe's supporters said the city needs the jobs and the tax revenues. They said competition is good, that Longview's economy has been too stagnant for too long and that the city is in danger of becoming a bedroom community to Portland and Vancouver.
"That kind of store is what you call an anchor store," said resident Joe Valenzuela. "Other cities will pay big money to bring in a store like that."
To suggestions that Lowe's build in the city's Mint Farm industrial park, Longview resident Bruce Kangas said, "That's just asinine."
A Lowe's executive chuckled and mouthed the words, "Thank you."
Alan Engstrom, an attorney representing a grassroots group formed to fight Lowe's, spoke against the project for nearly an hour.
Engstrom, whose group is called Citizens for Better Planning, asked that the city not allow Lowe's to build. Rather, he said, the city should wait until it reviews its comprehensive plan, a process that is expected to begin in the early part of this year.
As Engstrom continued, one resident stood in the audience and asked how long he would carry on. Other people wanted a chance to speak, the man said, accusing the attorney of trying to filibuster.
"Alan, please," McCrady said.
Sandy Mackie, an Olympia attorney representing Lowe's, argued that there is no other place in the city for the company to build its store.
Facing a shortage of commercial land, Lowe's considered building in other residential areas, he said. However, he said, the store would have had a greater impact on neighbors there and would have created more environmental problems.
"Wherever you change the zoning, we're pushing up against residential."
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