Send this story Print this story

Adjust text size

Letters

Market is perfect fit

Dear Editor,

As owner of the Meadow Plaza Shopping Center on Santa Rita Road in Pleasanton, I have been working hard to secure a new anchor tenant for the space vacated by Nob Hill Foods in early 2010. The empty building is zoned for a grocery store that includes a pharmacy and we're thrilled that we were able to attract Wal-Mart and its market format.

There's one thing a shopping center owner can attest, that center customers tell you what they like and want. Folks from this neighborhood have made it clear to me, every day for the last two years, that they want and need a grocery store in the Nob Hill Center.

This Wal-Mart market is a perfect fit to revitalize our struggling shopping center, it would employ about 100 local residents and provide the neighborhood with affordable, fresh, fruits and vegetables, deli and meats. The other businesses are excited and their customers are too.

It's disappointing that a relatively small group of people is working hard to keep Wal-Mart from reusing the building and bringing the same type of grocery store that was there before, with a new name. As a property owner in Pleasanton for many years and involved in the entitlement process in many cities, this is a straightforward application with no grounds for appeal. An appeal does not serve this neighborhood and I hope that our city leadership stands firm with the zoning administrator's recommendation for approval.

Neighborhood needs grocery store

Dear Editor,

We support the addition of a new Wal-Mart grocery store in the former Nob Hill Foods. Our neighborhood is in need of grocery services nearby. Wal-Mart employs hundreds of employees and serves many Pleasanton residents. Since when did our nation take a stand to eliminate competition; isn't that what our great land was built upon?

Residents want a say

Dear Editor,

As you know, Wal-Mart's effort to slide under the radar and open a grocery store in the former Nob Hill on Santa Rita Road is a topic that concerns many Pleasanton residents. Many of us have expressed our concerns to the mayor and City Council. Our concerns revolve around increased traffic, the effect it will have on existing businesses, including our small businesses downtown such as Gene's Fine Foods, the Custom Care Pharmacy as well as Luckys and Safeway.

At the council meeting Feb. 7, we planned to encourage the City Council to pass a Conditional Use Permit so residents will have a say in such matters.

Angela Willmes