December 1, 2010
Evaluating Target's Plans For Kailua Store
Aloha,
Hot topics currently in front position in Kailua include the proposed Target store at the Don Quijote site and ongoing construction of Whole Foods market at the edge of Kaneohe Ranch's master-planned Kailua Town Center-Phase 3. Keep in mind that these projects are permitted developments under city zoning regulations. The properties are zoned B-2 (community business district). Building height limit for both is 40 feet. A height variance would be require the approval of the city Department of Planning & Permitting. Any rezoning would require the approval of the City Council.
That said, I still remain hesitant to accept, in particular, the way Target officials have chosen to work with residents in its endeavor to enter the community.
Months before it acquired the remaining 12 years of Kaneohe Ranch lease from Don Quijote, Target promised me and state Rep. Chris Lee that it would work closely with the community during the planning and construction phases of the project and that they had done the same in Kapolei.
I cannot speak to that process nor do I feel that Kapolei should be a prototype for Kailua. I am also very troubled about Target's 130,000 square-foot store. (Their reasoning is that Target will warehouse major stock on site, which would reduce the number of daily deliveries.)
I have voiced my concern directly to Target officials but have not heard from them on this. It is my hope that Target will seriously consider reducing the size.
Some of you have expressed disdain for the planned store indicating that it is in violation of the Ko'olaupoko Sustainable Communities Plan, which states that no big box stores should be built in Kailua. Proponents might challenge the definition of "big box" -- a question that remains unanswered. Some believe a "big box" is based on square footage, others say it's on goods sold; still others say it's based on the size of a chain's operation. It's important to remember that the sustainability plans, ours included, were established as guides and do not have the force of law; they are advisory. They aim to direct decision-making when land use changes are contemplated. As the Target project is currently not seeking any variances or changes to the current zoning, the KSCP is not applicable.
Target must complete a traffic impact study to be reviewed and critiqued both by the city departments of Planning and Permitting and Transportation Services. DTS director Wayne Yoshioka encourages the public to submit its comments directly to his office at:
650 S King Street, 3rd Floor
Honolulu HI 96813
email: wyoshioka@honolulu.gov
Your written concerns will aid them in their evaluation. The departments will then meet with Target's traffic engineering consultants to mitigate concerns.
Once the consultants have responded, community briefings will be scheduled to update residents on the project's status and hear further concerns.
Please know that I will continue to work very closely with local entities involved in these projects. I also will monitor Target's intention to be involved with the community.
Mahalo,
Ikaika
Contact City Councilman Ikaika Anderson, District III (Waimanalo, Kailua, most of Kaneohe), at 768-5003.
There is no challenging the fact that Target is considered a big-box store, in every sense of the definition. It meets square footage, types of goods sold, and size of chain requirements. Proponents will be entirely unable to suggest that it is not one, as all of the relevant literature agrees.
ReplyDeleteFor example, the following is taken directly from Patricia Salkin's "Supersizing Small Town America: Using Regionalism to Right-Size Big Box Retail" :
"Big box retail has been defined in some regions as stand-alone stores of 100,000 square-feet or more. Laura Altenhof, "Coping with Big Box Retailers" (Jan. 1999) at http://www.planning.org/hottopics/bigbox.html
In other regions it ias been defined as "large industrial-style buildings with vast floorplates of footprints, up to 200,000 square-feet. Although single-story, they often have a three-story mass that stands more than thiry feet tall, allowing the vertical stacking of merchandise. Big box buildings in the range of 120,000 to 140,000 square-feet occupy the equivalent of two to three city blocks or 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 football fields." Office of State Planning. "Big Box Retail", OSPlanning Memo 1 (Dec. 1995), available at www.nj.gov/dca/osg/docs/bigboxretail120195.pdf
Another study identifies the following characteristics of big box retail: typically occupies between 90,000 and 200,000 square-feet; derives profits from high sales volume rather than mark-up; large, windowless, rectangular single-story buildings; standardized facades, relies on consumers with cars; has acres of parking; seems to be everywhere but unique to no place. Texas Perspectives, Inc. & Gateway Planning Group, "Big Box Retail and Austin: Prepared for the City of Austin" (June 23, 2004), available at www.ci.austin.tx.us/redevelopment/downloads/Big%20Box.Austin.final.pdf