Moraga Dollar Tree Approved, But Appeal Possible

After more than a month of public uproar and debate, the Moraga Planning Commission on Monday passed  Dollar Tree's application to open a shop in the Rheem Valley Shopping Center, but not without establishing caveats the applicant said it "could not live with."

With posters displaying the current state of Pleasant Hill's Dollar Tree store — replete with suspicious stains and cat litter spilt in the isles — placed within eyesight of commission members, Moragans spoke for and against the store's presence.

"In the seven years I've been on the Planning Commission, there's been only a couple of occasions that the public outcry against this kind of establishment has been so loud," commission chairman Bruce Whitley said. Most of those who spoke during public comments Monday night were against Dollar Tree.

"With the potential of the Dollar Tree taking space in the Rheem Center, we are concerned about the direction that Moraga is taking," said resident Holly Erickson-King. "The Dollar Tree represents low-quality, throwaway items that are the antithesis of sustainability."

Others asked their neighbors to think outside their own demographic. "You have to think of the older people in Moraga," said Phillis Schultz, a resident of 40 years. "They're not earning the money they once did, and everything's being cut back and the taxes are getting higher."

But the panel brought the discussion back to the issue at hand: the resolution of a subcommittee establishing guidelines for the store's operation, with regulations to establish shelf height limits, delivery hours and storefront displays.

Dollar Tree representative Linda Duncan, the regional real estate manager, bridled at the stipulation.

"Dollar Tree stores cannot live with the conditions of approval attached to this evening's agenda," she said. "Most of these conditions are arbitrary, capricious and subjective in nature." Although the resolution was revised as the meeting progressed, and Dollar Tree's application was passed, there still were signs of discontent evident within the committee.

"I am shocked that Dollar Tree thought so little of the town that they didn't want to participate in the process [of the application]," Whitley remarked, although he voted to pass the application. Whitley reminded the commission and residents that Dollar Tree has yet to send in a operational manager to discuss issues such as shelf height and displays.

Although the application was passed, there remains the chance for an appeal - to be filed within the next 10 days.