There's still bad feeling in the air, however. When one Dilworth resident had the temerity to speak in favor of the proposal, opponents of the scheme, now much fewer in number but who had earlier enjoyed uninterrupted access to the microphone, shouted down their neighbor. Only the intervention of the meeting's chairman restored order and allowed the speaker to finish.
Leaving the church, I was surprised to find an acquaintance of mine and her partner ripping up handouts supplied by Lowe's, and scattering them across the church steps in a mini-blizzard of litter. When I noted, half in jest, that this petty protest would make a good vignette for my column, I was met with a stream of invective, including threats to sue me and sue this newspaper if I wrote anything about it.
I mention this little urban confrontation only because it provides a perfect illustration of how extreme levels of intransigent neighborhood opposition are rarely influenced by facts. In this case, however, the facts are very important.
Community activism, however ill-mannered, has served a useful purpose, although I suspect more temperate discussions between Lowe's and the DCDA have done more than public whining to create the impetus for design improvements.
The Lowe's team had a much better presentation this second time around, with readable graphics, plentiful handouts and a clear logical explanation of the design changes. Criticisms have been met by completely reorienting the main store so that access is now only off the business block of Iverson Way, not from the residential streets of Magnolia and Euclid. In the new plan, Magnolia becomes a purely residential street lined with condominiums and townhomes. There is room for on-street parking, and this should be added immediately.
The other store entrance that interfered with residential traffic — off Lyndhurst Avenue — has also been eliminated, replaced with access only to the residential units lining that street. All traffic to the store now enters from Iverson Way via an improved junction with South Boulevard, where there will be a new traffic signal and extra turn lanes.
Truck traffic is handled well, with service and storage areas taken deeper into the site and hidden from neighborhood view by extensive screen walls and landscaping. Detailed street design will keep the trucks from turning into the residential neighborhood, forcing them to use South Boulevard.
It's inevitable that some extra traffic will use Dilworth streets to get to the store, but I think this is overplayed by overwrought residents, as many potential customers are uptown residents who will drive down South Boulevard. There are, however, legitimate concerns about some nearby streets laid out in the 1950s with no sidewalks, and if the city approves the plan, Council members must make lining these streets with sidewalks a priority.
To minimize the traffic impact, Lowe's has pledged to redesign intersections adjacent to the site with traffic-calming measures to discourage cut-through traffic. They have also committed $25,000 for city-designed traffic-calming devices wherever they might be needed in the neighborhood. At $2,500 per speed bump, that's 10 that could be built within a few blocks to deter all but local traffic.
Much discussion has centered on whether Lowe's' proposal suits the "pedestrian-friendly transit district" along the new light rail line that parallels South Boulevard. The site is half-a-mile from the nearest station, right on the edge of the walkable zone around each transit stop. Americans generally won't walk more than a half-mile to and from the train, so pedestrian traffic isn't the highest priority at Lowe's' location, especially on South Boulevard, a busy thoroughfare that's unfriendly to pedestrians. Lowe's' plan will improve pedestrian amenities on South Boulevard; a mixed-use building on the corner of South and Magnolia will provide additional neighborhood retail, and the garden center will open directly onto the sidewalk, with an additional entry directly into the main store from the street.
Dilworth residents clamor for many small stores rather than one big one, but the neighborhood simply doesn't adequately support "boutique" retail. Several vacant shops bear witness to this disappointing fact. In this location, a large urbanized store shielded from the neighborhood by new housing makes a lot of sense; the city should approve this proposal now that it's been improved.
