MEL MEINHARDT and LEONARD J. SCINTO

Letters to the Editor 

Published in the East Neighbors Section of  The Miami Herald 

 January 16, 2005 

Posted on Sun, Jan. 16, 2005

Soapbox

Is Home Depot the best option?

We hear mounting concern about a potential Home Depot at the former Coconut Grove Kmart site, with well-stated, but often abstract, arguments for and against. It is an important matter that affects the quality of life we all share in the Grove, the Gables, Shenandoah, the Roads -- as well as the countless commuters traveling U.S. 1 each day. To best understand the effect of a big-box in an urban neighborhood, I asked those who know best -- Home Depot managers and staff, local business people and official government databases.

We learned:

• Size: Home Depot hopes to occupy the entire shopping center and displace existing stores there, including the food market critical to many West Grove residents who travel by foot.

• Jobs: Home Depots employ about 88-150 staff, but would displace the 178 workers at Milam's Market, Walgreens and Payless -- a net job loss.

• Traffic: Big-box stores can bring about 5,000 transits daily, concentrated at rush hours. Compare this to the current 7,700 eastbound and 8,700 westbound traffic count on already overloaded Bird Road reported by Miami-Dade County's Traffic department.

• Use: Miami-Dade County's online zoning maps shows other Home Depots are in heavier use commercial zones, with the special exception of the warehouse store on Southwest Eighth Street -- a usage mistake that brings safety and health consequences that City Commissioner Tomas Regalado fights against daily and with passion.

This site's future should promote the economic growth of a healthy community, not cannibalize its neighbors. This site is valuable, close to public transportation and serves as a key portal to the Grove's merchants and public venues. It deserves the best we can give through cooperation. The not-my-problem or dog-eat-dog approaches of some that favor big boxes pretend that we each stand in isolation. Nowhere is this less true than at this Grove site.

Let's do right by both the current landlords and the community and find the best use for the site -- one that serves us all. Let's challenge the city, urban planners, business people and others with vision to be positive and creative leaders. And do so now before we miss our chance.

MEL MEINHARDT

COCONUT GROVE

HOME DEPOT WILL IMPACT

ITS NEIGHBORS

I am a Coconut Grove resident and would like to express my extreme displeasure at the possibility of a Home Depot warehouse moving into the former Kmart location on McDonald and Bird Avenue in Coconut Grove.

I recently purchased, at a premium price, a townhome on Bridgeport Avenue directly behind the proposed location. This area is supposed to be zoned C1, the least intrusive commercial property. Although possibly subject to interpretation of exactly what constitutes C1 commercial business, I do not see how anyone could suggest that a full-scale big-box Home Depot would not be incredibly intrusive to my quality of life. I can just imagine the noise of off-loading semi-trucks in the middle of the night, the increased traffic, litter, crime and hazard threat.

Small-scale, diversified commercial business is what the Grove needs, not large corporate stores/warehouses more suited to industrial locations where they would be surrounded by several blocks of parking and additional shopping. If anyone thinks the Home Depot would be a good idea, have them look at the mess the Home Depot on Southwest Eighth Street -- only 2.6 miles away -- creates.

This, along with the threat of possibly losing our only grocery store, is of great concern to all Grove residents.

LEONARD J. SCINTO

COCONUT GROVE

Copyright 2005 Knight Ridder

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