Editor’s note: The following is the text of a petition presented Wednesday to the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission concerning a proposal to develop the northwest corner of Sixth and Wakarusa into a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Nearly 450 signatures were on the petition.

RE: Proposed Regional Commercial Development at NW corner 6th & Wakarusa, Lawrence, KS.

To Whom It May Concern:

Please allow this letter to show to you our neighborhood’s concern and disapproval of the potential regional commercial development at 6th & Wakarusa Drive. We have summarized our objection to the proposed Wal-mart SUPERCENTER and would like you to consider the following before making your vote:

1. The addition of a regional retailer, i.e., one that brings people from other parts of the city and county, to a neighborhood setting is an inappropriate use. All the other uses at or near this intersection, with the exception of Hereford House, are neighborhood support commericial uses.

2. If a regional retailer the size and scope of a Wal-Mart SUPERCENTER is introduced into this setting, the entire complexion of the area will change. The current neighborhood support commercial businesses will be pushed out of the existing centers by the regional merchants simply because the regionals can afford to pay more. This will in turn increase traffic far beyond what Wal-Mart’s traffic engineers’ project.

3. The city, if it approves this use, will be inundated with other proposals for years on the remaining undevelped land both to the east and west of the intersection for intense commercial use because of the impressive number of people that will be in the neighborhood to visit Wal-Mart SUPERCENTER.

4. A SUPERCENTER of any kind is not appropriate to locate next to a high school and community swimming pool. The city very methodically determined the best location for Freestate High School and the adjoining aquatic center, intentionally placing it off of the main streets to increase the safety of those attending the school. Placing a major retail use bringing in excess of 5,000 people per day right next door to Freestate is poor planning. Over half of the students drive to school or after-school activities each day. Mixing these young drivers with regional shopping traffic would be a tragic mistake.
Thank you for your consideration. We sincerely hope, after taking the above issues into account, you will agree that introducing regional commerical develpment to an area the city of Lawrence has carefully developed into a neighborhood commercial area is a bad idea.

We respectfully ask you to vote accordingly.