Letter: Jack in the Box shafts neighborhood

EDITOR,
I live in Mountain Brook Co-op, across the street from the Jack in the Box project in Scotts Valley, and I oppose this project for many reasons.
In our neighborhood, we already deal with clearing brush and weeds quarterly on city property that runs along our property (because the city will not do it); constant trash pickup (usually bearing the logos of Wendy’s and Starbucks Coffee) along the seasonal creek outside our park; the loud and rattling noise of an overburdened water treatment station at the northeast end of the Best Western; the unofficial truck stop that the 6000 block becomes for the unloading and reloading of big rigs that are not allowed anywhere else on Scotts Valley Drive (Canepa, moving companies, Sysco, etc.); intermittent nighttime illegal drag-racing; and speeding vehicles, mostly to and from Bethany University.
Add to this a Jack in the Box, and there will be more noise and trash and problems.
It’s hard not to put a socioeconomic spin on this, but it’s there. A privileged, planned community can keep out a Target, but if a Jack in the Box wants to come into to town across the street from a trailer park, then it will happen.
In a small town dealing with our own obesity epidemic and health issues, do we really need another fast-food chain? Are we compromising the health of our children for revenue? Does anyone care that this Jack’s will be a stone’s throw from Vine Hill Elementary?
Yes, the onion rings and the commercials are brilliant, but it’s not worth it. Why can’t the city try and attract a healthy restaurant? Or, better yet, pop up all the asphalt and let’s start a community garden project with a café — the building is already there! There are many successful models for such programs through out the Bay Area. I’ll volunteer.
Please, please, please — no Jack in the Box.