Peaceful Pastorale or Pathetic Ploy for Pay?

This article kills me. From today's Gary Post-Tribune comes the sad, tearful tale of folks in peaceful, quiet Chesterton Indiana who are afraid their pastoral, peaceful existence will be shattered by the intrusion of an evil Wal-Mart.

Even though they live between two major interstate highways.

Wal-Mart Has New Foes
November 16, 2007; By Jane Huh Post-Tribune staff writer

A group of Chesterton residents began to form a network to derail a commercial development plan that may be anchored by Wal-Mart.

At Thursday's Advisory Plan Commission meeting, engineer Jeff Ban, of DVG Inc., presented a conceptual plan to develop a 50-acre site on the southeast corner of the Indiana Toll Road and Indiana 49. "We're here not to push a project on you but to listen to you," Ban told the members.

I-80 Partners LLC is proposing to develop a 293,700 square feet space into a "retail office campus," that would be pedestrian-oriented, include greenery and quality architecture, said Ban, who said the planning has been going on for the past 10 months.

Ban said discussions are ongoing with Wal-Mart representatives. At this point, however, the developers intend to begin a traffic study, Ban said.

However, residents who showed attended the meeting began to raise concerns. "We've got a city sprawl ... that's what's going on," a man yelled. Town leaders likely will face pressure from residents when it comes to developing that area. Back in April 2006, the Town Council rejected a developer's efforts to create a retail shopping center that would have been anchored by Target and Kohl's. Duneland First, a group of residents and small business owners, had formed to oppose the proposal.

Pat Seguin, 45, moved to County Road 900N less than two months ago from the Chicago suburbs. He said, "I came here to get away from this stuff." Seguin said. "I would not have bought that house if I had known that a Wal-Mart was going to be two blocks from me."

"Did you realistically think that with the Toll Road and with 94 and 49, that this land was not going to be developed?" commission member Frank Sessa later asked the audience.

Indeed. Prime parcels positioned between an isthmus of land bordered by two major interstates -- and they want "peace and quiet." Then why did you move next to the Interstate, idiot?

I think it's more likely they want prime money for their land.

~~JD~~