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A letter to the editor from Rick Wright in Scotts Valley

According to Kertai, the building of the Target store would increase crime, dry up our aquifer, increase traffic to unbearable levels, close businesses — possibly including the Hilton — and is incompatible with the City Council’s Economic Plan. But most of those arguments are based not on fact but on unsubstantiated opinion.

Here are a few examples: Kertai states that the average Target store has 170 “crime incidents” per year. First, there is no evidence that our Target store will be average — many stores are in more urban areas with higher levels of crime. Second, if Kertai is so convinced that Target will cannibalize Scotts Valley business, why won’t it also cannibalize SV crime? In other words, if folks might be doing some of their shopping at Target instead of Longs, why wouldn’t some folks be doing their shoplifting at Target instead of Longs? It makes far more sense for our City Council or the developer or Target to provide some actual data on overall crime rate changes for similar towns rather than relying on Kertai’s suppositions.

The water issue is also curious. Most Targets have only four restrooms, two for guests and two for employees. I sometimes shop at Target and have never had to wait in line for the restroom. I don’t think Target’s restrooms are the reason consumers will come to Scotts Valley. I’d suggest that the approximately 300 bathrooms in the Monte Fiore development or the nearly 200 at the Hilton, or the acres of irrigated lawn in Monte Fiore have a far, far greater impact on our aquifer than even 100 Target stores would. Again, some actual facts from Target on average water use might dispel this concern.

There has been much talk about the traffic, again with little perspective. From the now-released traffic impact report we know that the Target store would likely add 9,000 vehicle trips to the La Madrona-Mt. Hermon intersection daily. While this sounds like a lot, an average of about 12 cars per minute going to Target and 12 per minute leaving doesn’t sound so overwhelming. From a traffic perspective, this seems like an excellent location. Instead of shoppers clogging up miles of city streets, idling and creating pollution at numerous stoplights — as they do on, for example, 41st Avenue — they are one intersection from the freeway, both coming and going. An aerial view of the site (try Google Maps) shows not a quaint country road, as described by Kertai, but a frontage road flanked by a freeway, a housing development and hotel parking lot.

Kertai goes on to discuss the failure of the Target development to meet the city’s 2007 Economic Plan. While other businesses might be a better fit, it seems shortsighted to exclude any but those that satisfy all the criteria. Bringing a few hundred jobs to the area, even if they’re not all high-paying, seems like a benefit.

Overall, it seems that a more balanced view of the proposed Target development is needed. There are tens of thousands of commuters who pass through Scotts Valley every day on Highway 17, leaving only noise and air pollution. We should carefully consider the benefits of having a percentage of these folks leaving some of their money in Scotts Valley as well.

While I like Target, I’m not convinced that it’s the right decision for our town. The decision should be based on facts, not trumped-up opinions. And, as they say, the devil’s in the details.

Target’s Web site touts its environmental responsibility, green buildings, recycling and community giving. Scotts Valley will have the upper hand in negotiating the details before agreeing to the development. It’s on that best deal that a final decision should be made.

My hope is that the Planning Commission will ignore the rhetoric and make a decision on what’s best for Scotts Valley and not just what’s best for Frank Kertai.

Rick Wright is a Scotts Valley resident.

Comments (2)

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written by Marcus, April 28, 2008

Sorry Rick. The minute you used the tired NIMBY canard, you lost my support, I stopped reading.

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written by Frank Z. Kertai, April 29, 2008

For Responsible Development in Scotts Valley, see www.rldpac.org

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