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  Home Page » Opinion » Letters To The Editor » Residents Should Decide Fate Of Retailers

Residents should decide fate of retailers

In "Big-Box Fight Starts," Councilman Mark Weiler states that a "vocal minority" is using "scare tactics" to sway public opinion against the development of a large retailer in Pagosa Springs. As a plaintiff in the recently filed lawsuit against the town government, I presume I am the face of the group the councilman demonizes.

Weiler's characterization aside, the current lawsuit in no way attempts to sway public opinion on whether or not a Walmartesque superstore should be built in our town. The lawsuit only seeks to provide Pagosa Springs residents the opportunity to decide for themselves, by way of an election, the conditions under which a megastore can be built in town.

My belief in the need for a public decision concerning the fate of so-called big-boxes is only made more certain after reading Weiler's comments.

He unequivocally states that town residents want a local megastore to call their own. Community surveys, however, suggest differently.

In 2004, Pagosa Springs hired RRC Associates to poll town residents on the subject.

The marketing research company discovered that only 8 percent of respondents wanted a big-box retailer in their backyard.

Weiler's prediction regarding economic impacts fares no better. He states that a large retail development would not be a detriment to existing businesses.

Again, professional analysis suggests otherwise.

In 2005, the town commissioned EPS, Inc. to study that very question.

The firm determined that a big-box retailer "will derive a large portion of its sales by taking sales away from existing stores" causing a "considerable loss of business to existing Pagosa Springs retailers." I don't presume to know what local residents want or what local businesses can tolerate, but after reading Weiler's comments, I'm convinced he doesn't know either.

When it comes to the fate of large retailers in Pagosa Springs, the best course of action is to simply let the people speak for themselves and resolve the issue by a majority vote. And that's all the present lawsuit hopes to accomplish. If that's such a scary proposition for the councilman, then we just have different ideas about the role of representative government in our beloved mountain town.

Matthew H. Roane, Pagosa Springs