No Decision on Moraga Dollar Tree Store

Dollar Tree's application to enter the Rheem Valley Shopping center was spiraling down for the count… only to rise up again in the final 30 minutes of last night's special Planning Commission's meeting.

After testimony from approximately 10 of the 25 residents gathered in the Joaquin Moraga Auditorium, no final decision was made.  Instead, the seven commissioners voted to appoint a special sub-committee to work with Planning Department staff to come up with "possible conditions of approval." The results will be presented at a public meeting on September 20th.

The committee spent well-over an hour debating the application's merits, and demerits, without finding common ground.  A straw poll ended with Commissioner Bruce Whitely saying, "A majority say 'no,' but maybe some changes would get us to a 'yes.' "

Moments later, a second vote resulted in two 'no' votes, two 'yes' votes, and three 'yes, if' conditional votes.  This led to an intense debate revealing a philosophical split between several commissioners.  Jim Obsitnik landed heavily in the "hands off" category, expressing repeated reservations about placing restrictions on the store's interior aspects.  Russell Driver and Whitley dug in their collective heels, insisting that additional conditions were absolutely necessary — and possible — for approval of the application.

The discussion prompted a third tally.  This vote came back 5 opposed, 2 in favor.  Heads nodded, a few residents in attendance applauded — until Lori Salamack, Director of the Planning Department, set the small crowd spinning with instructions about the legal requirements for saying "no" to a retail applicant in Moraga.

"The commission must provide findings for not approving," she said.  And furthermore, she advised, a majority must agree on at least one finding.  

Despite rigorous individual statements, the committee was unable to find a single point of negative agreement.  Obsitnik said his "mental gyrations" could not lead him to conclude any restrictive language was worthy of approval.  Stacie Levenfeld, insisting her opposition had "nothing to do with who would or wouldn't shop there," was concerned with the difficulty of "finding mitigating language addressing the adverse characteristics of use that might have a negative economic impact on neighboring businesses."  Roger Wykle stuck to his guns, objecting to a futuristic "will not" clause in the commission's guidelines.  Calling an Oakland store he had visited "messy" and the neighborhood "depressed," he said, "If that type of neighborhood came to Moraga, that would create, in my mind, an excessive public economic problem."

In the end, what the Planning Commission did agree on, was that the lengthy public discussion and diversity of opinions were sending a strong message to Kimco and the Dollar Tree personnel.  Obsitnik said the town of Moraga is clearly engaged in this process, and the commission has allotted a tremendous amount of time to the issue. Dick Socolich and Whitley volunteered to serve on the sub-committee and unanimous approval of the motion to create conditional language for approval of the application was immediate.

Perhaps because they'd had their say in prior meetings and online blogs, the number of residents at the meeting was slim.  Still, with two weeks to build upon previous arguments for and against the Dollar Tree, their voices were strong.

Ellen Bean was first to speak, asking, "Would you be able to tell us how long the lease would be?" Salamack said the lease term was a matter for Kimco and the Dollar Tree to determine, not the Town of Moraga.

"There's nothing socially responsible that would appear on the shelves of this store," Caroline Wood said.

"Will there be another giant whooshing sound, like the Hoover vacuum cleaners I sell, as the revenues go out of our town?" asked Bill Snider, owner of Moraga Hardware and Lumber.  "You should be sick and tired of these big companies coming in here and lying to you."

Former Mayor Margaret DePriester and Dale Walwark took the opposite track.  "I may not go there every day, but we need the added help for our town," DePriester said.

"I think we're just stuck with what we have to do," Walwark said, pointing to the legal parameters for approval.  "I hope that people who have become excited about this issue would transfer their civic engagement to future issues," he added.

Holly Lucas stepped up to the podium, saying the hopeless statements of hands being tied were familiar.  "I worked on Capitol Hill and I heard that a lot," she said.  She listed product recalls and employee lawsuits related to the Dollar Tree and blamed Kimco for raising rents; effectively hurting small businesses interested in the shopping center.

Lynne Davis came right to the point, saying, "This community has an option to appeal the decision, and I fully intend to do that."  She called the store "a very real threat to our children and our families," citing "dozens of product recalls for things like electrical shock and burn hazards."

John Fryer brought the discussion from physical danger back to social issues, asking, "What is the definition of a 'wrong person' who will come to Moraga?"

With his most personal statements to date, Tom Obsitnik, chair of the Planning Commission, closed the public discussion. Stressing that the commissioners all lived in Moraga, a point that had been publicly questioned, he went on to say, "We are bound to follow the Moraga Municipal code when considering applications.  We must separate personal values as we decide."

Clearly, the whirlwind will continue.  If mitigating language is found, the public can hear it on September 20th.