Project opponent

To the editor:

As a northwest Lawrence resident, I write to ask all concerned citizens to urge the planning commission to reject the application by Southwind Capital LLC to locate a Wal-Mart store in northwest Lawrence. My reasons for this request are as follows:

(1) Lawrence has a Wal-Mart; we do not need another.

(2) The area proposed is in the middle of a residential area. Large big-box stores are not appropriate for the neighborhood.

(3) The traffic on Sixth Street is already heavy. The additional traffic created by such an establishment will push capacity beyond the limits of common sense and safety.

(4) Lawrence’s downtown is thriving because the city has resisted allowing too many large chains to draw business away from local merchants. The downtown is one of the best things about Lawrence; we can’t let it dry up by bowing to corporate interests.

(5) The location requested is right next to Free State High School (where my son is a student). This is not a safe place to put a big box store for many obvious reasons.

(6) Long ago, Lawrence established the South Iowa stretch as the appropriate place for such stores. Let’s keep it that way.

(7) Finally, if the commission thinks northwest Lawrence needs such an establishment (an opinion with which I do not concur), how about putting it out by Kansas Highway 10 where there is plenty of room?

Doug Burger,

Lawrence