Home Depot has started renovation
According to today's Herald, the Home Depot is starting renovation at the Grove Gate site. Story here.
posted by Tom Falco at 9:24 AM
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19 Comments:
Time to ratchet it up! Call lawyers, bombard them with petition, depositions, lawsuits...
Let's be realistic here. See what happens when you refuse to compromise? They go back to the original design, which is obviously far worse than the Key West style design that includes Milam's. You cannot win. This is America and they have a right to be in business there. My suggestion is to be careful what you wish for and get Home Depot to go back to the upscale design.
Well, I feel a bit mislead by the GroveFirst, when did they tell us there was a permit for 70k, b/c that is not a real solution to the issue. Now, if action is not taken, we might get something we do not want.
I also wonder about the article, it states Home Depot will take over all of the center after 2008. Can they really open another store in another name.... like Garden Center....
Why didn't Home Depot talk with the all of the people that live next to the site? They only want to force everything down out throats.
hoping for better....
The K-mart building which was also a Mervyn's, Zayres, Ames and other stores was always 70k. Any business can move in there without a problem as long as they don't expand. That was never an issue.
Home Depot never wanted to just stay inside those 70K four walls.
almost every problem cited by GroveFirst will _still_ be a problem if HomeDepot moves into the existing 70k building. Shopping Carts, Traffic, Trucks, etc.
Are you thinking that this is a victory for the grove?
This is a classic case of being careful about what you ask for. Home Depot, since signing a legal lease has always had a permit for utilizing all 70K at Grove Gate. Just because Grove First advocates don't want them as neighbors doesn't mean they don't have the right to be there. They rallyed against the Strang design being implemented under the Class II permit,and now we're left with ugly original (soon rennovated bldg) and soon no grocery. By the sounds of other bloggers, seems people are finally waking up to the reality. wake up and wave to the truckers! (they, too have rights and are already delivering on Bird Avenue!)
Hi All,
I thought all of these issues comes down to really one issue - are "big-box" or wharehouse stores allowed in C-1 zoning? And, will GroveFirst take this to court? I know the code states "hardware store", but HomeDepot is a lot more than a hardware store...
Well, I wonder what will happen?
And what would you call KMart - - a boutique shop?
I predicted this at a homeowners' association meeting, months ago. This is precisely why I was ambivalent about opposition to the Strang design.
I don't think there's any way the City can stop this now without exposing itself to a Takings Clause lawsuit.
Greetings.
Sarnoff and the other Grove "Firsties" have never really been willing to listen. Whenever I've spoken to anyone remotely interested in this issue it’s clear that there is an “us v them” mentality. Sure, “Firsties” want to maintain their quaint style of living in an urban atmosphere, complete with loud motorcycles, drunk college kids and what not. Development happens in this town and fighting it only sometimes works.
Here, a proposal, on the table to include Milam’s (love it or hate it) AND to include a neighborhood décor friendly Home Depot were shot down, by…“Firsties”. Apparently they thought incorrectly that HD would just pull out and go home. Now, we’re going to get HD and the design won’t be pretty. Happy? You Won!
Hopefully, common sense will prevail and a compromise will be reached. Firsties will shut up, simmer down and accept a “kindler, gentler” Home Depot (with deliveries along side US1…hopefully) and HD will suck it up and lose some of whatever it is they want.
To be fair, the NIMBY attitude is understandable, but really…how many Firsties will be in line at Home Depot to pay for something when Shell’s or Poe’s has closed for the day (like Sunday’s at 2:PM or weekdays after 5:00 or is it 5:30)?
Get real. Change happens. Fight if you want, but don’t then complain when you get what you asked for and it’s UGLY.
PS: Staying anonymous because people get crazy and will curse you out in public or worse if you disagree with them. Civil discourse is gone in this town.
I should add that this just might be a negotiating tactic; i.e., a bluff designed to get the opposition to acquiesce to the Strang design. But I somehow doubt it.
The opposition to HD has always been based on a childlike belief that “I can get whatever I want if I throw a loud enough tantrum.” The parents of the Firsties may have indulged this belief and encouraged their bratty offspring’s sense of absolute entitlement but out here in reality-land, things are different.
Well at least the "Firsties" tried to do something. I mean, does every 2.5 miles need a Home Depot, or a dare I say a Starbucks.....
Hey, why didn't Home Depot talk to people around the site, and get a feeling for what and where compromise could have happened?
Well, they have their agenda, and the "Firsties" have theirs.
So the whole thing is odd, but come on do you really trust a large coporation such as Home Depot, who after being confronted with the ISSUES of the 8th Street store, still do nothing to improve that store. I mean I have to shop there for certian items that Shell does not have, but man... it's not easy dealing with that place and the lack of staff that can help.
Anyways, at least the Firt group took a stand.
What nonsense! The Taliban “took a stand.” The Nazi Party has a point of view. A snarling Rottweiler is “trying to do something” when it lunges for your throat!
Home Depot has met with almost every homeowner in the vicinity of the site. A great many, and perhaps an absolute majority, support their plans. Many started out in opposition but came around as HD modified their plans, negotiated with City officials and agreed to a long list of operational rules.
It’s a shame the Firsties have made this matter into a quasi-religion. They have never for one minute displayed an honest willingness to seek a reasonable compromise. They pretend to speak for me. They don’t.
I must remain nameless because the Firsties are cowardly bullies who seek to punish those who disagree with them.
Hey, last poster, I have been following some of the posts here, but what you write is not true, I live pretty much next to the site, and Home Depot has not once, or ever tried to contact me or any of my adjacent and next door neighboors. Honestely, if you are going to write something then back it up with facts. For or against, support your comments.
Oh, and the "long list of operational rules" are normal for C-1, there was nothing new. And one meeting with a sub-group of people next to the site, is not contacting all the poeple. You know, I heard more from Milans then anyother group, at least they sent letters, explaining their position but NOT Home Depot.
Just because a sub-set/group of adjacent residents meet with some official does not mean Home Depot contacted all of those who live next to the site, please, do not fool yourself. Talk about lack of representation!
Let me repeat, Home Depot has never contacted me (or anyone in my family), to ask what I thought, what potential compromises would be, etc. I did get a odd polling phone call asking if the City Gov. was representing citizens issues on zoning, but nothing from Corp. headquaters. Come on, I am a home owner and I am listed in the phone book, it's not like I am hard to find.
Don't you think one of the largest corporations in the states would have the funds and progressive thinking to actually - work with, communicate and compromise with the local community? Simply getting a local arch. firm to design "cool-depot" is not enough, let get to business and talk about these issues. I wonder if Home Depot is reading anythings here....
as one anon (for safety's sake) to the last anon I would like to know if you were a homeowner adjacent to this site who resided there at the time of KMart, Mervyns, etc.? When the 'box' went from Mervyns to KMart, did the corporate headquarters contact you? This goes for anyone living in close proximity to the Grove Gate center. Sure it would be swell if every business had a touchy feely department and reached out in a spirit of good p.r.
this goes for most businesses opening up anywhere. fellow groveites.. do you recall coco walk polling the neighbors before it moved in? Not in my memory banks, either.
Well, I lived next to the K-mart, and I did shopping there, for lot's, but K-mart is 1/10 to 1/50th of what a Home Depot would be... so I mean I am just being realistic. What would you rather have a K-mart or 70k to 125k Home Depot?
It's not also about being touch-feely, it's about being organized, and getting your act together, which the DEPOT did not do - COMMUNICATE, well, I guess our "former" commissioner did not commuicate that well with us either... But, not for lack of trying.
I would rather have mixed use housing development with small shops on the ground level than either a K-Mart or a HD. I don't really see much difference between the character of a Home Depot and a K-mart, other than a matter of scale. and with the Strang design it would be better than a generic Kmart, which everyone here seems to love.
Uh, I'll take another failure like Kmart over HD anyday... At least no one goes there so the traffic isnt bad. Except for hurricane time when everyone is ready to kill eachother over a bottle of water or a candle.
Honestly, when this issue first came about my thoughts were, "damn hippies... Stop trying to rebel against everything. You cant win and the signs all over the place make this town look even more ugly than anything." But since then, after a few visits to HD on 8th street, my tune has changed drastically. Home Depot is wrong for the Grove, at least on this side of US1. Stick it in the "fake Grove" on the other side of US1 where its more concrete jungle than actual jungle.
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