"We're trying to make it blend in and look more like a home and not just a big box," Frazier said.
******************************************The above is a quote in todays online paper by the chief planner in the city regarding the plan review of a new Lowes to be built within the city.
Ponder that quote.
Why is *looking like a home* a requirement for an obvious commercial project? Does the application of foam accents and some loosely scattered mansards change the fact that a *big box* is still just a big box?
As a long term resident of the city with a business license in the field that is directly related to Lowe's products, here's what I think. That plan reviewer, Tyler Frazier, needs to have his fat head slammed against a stucco wall at about 250 mph. After he comes out of his coma he should then be required to spend 1 full week in the Lowes parking lot, noticing the unbelievable amount of chaos that ensues when there is only 1 Lowes in a city of almost 150k people. Lowes is jammed hard all the time, it is torturous trying to purchase stuff there. I have personally approached Lowes hdq. many times about this, even suggesting available areas for new sites, taking into account future growth expectations.
This same idiot, Tyler Frazier, is responsible for holding up Home Depot from building a hideous big box in the city too. Presently there is no HD in the city, and may never be, as far as Frazier is concerned.
The bureaucracy is constantly raising taxes and fees for the
*infrastructure* that must necessarily expand with residential growth, but isn't commercial growth a requirement as well? A residential city cannot stand on its own 2 feet without commercial support. People need and want stuff, and if they can't get their hands on it efficiently they will seek it elsewhere.The goddamned gov't, once again, can't even get out of its own way. By preventing Lowes and HD from building within the city limits the city cloneheads are spiteing themselves of millions of dollars in taxes and impact fees, right now!