LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Community members concerned about a small box retailer's plans to locate stores in Kelseyville and Middletown are considering their options as the retailer indicates it's moving forward.
Earlier this year, the Tennessee-based Dollar General opened stores in Nice and Clearlake Oaks. A Texas-based firm, Cross Development, which builds store facilities for the retailer, subsequently applied to place two more stores locally: at 4315 Douglas St. and 5505 Main St., across Main Street from Kelseyville High School; and at 20900 S. Highway 29 in Middletown.
Beginning earlier this spring, meetings were organized in both communities to gather input from residents on the plans.
The Middletown Area Town Hall, or MATH, hosted a discussion on Dollar General on May 14 and the Kelseyville Business Association hosted its own town hall the store proposal on May 18.
In both towns, a chief concern raised was whether Dollar General fit with the look, design and identity that the communities have worked for years to establish.
However, opposition – while prevalent – has not been unanimous in either location, with some community members coming forward to voice their support for additional shopping options.
In the case of Kelseyville, residents John Helldorfer and Jan Coppinger both advocated for having the store come to town at the May 18 meeting, with Coppinger explaining that it would allow her to shop closer to home rather than having to travel to Lakeport.
However, on May 28, the Lake County Planning Commission unanimously turned down the major use permit application for the Kelseyville store project submitted by Cross Development.
Commissioners cited a number of concerns, including their knowledge of performance in Clearlake Oaks, as well as traffic and close proximity to Kelseyville High School, and design concerns.
The next day, Joe Dell of Cross Development submitted an appeal of the commission's decision.
In his appeal, Dell wrote that the firm didn't believe that the planning commission's decision took into account all of the facts outlined in the staff report, the initial study's findings and the conditions of approval placed on the project, “which, in our opinion, serve to address concerns raised and ensure that all impacts will be properly mitigated in accordance with applicable codes, regulations, and policies.”
The Cross Development appeal also stated, “We believe that the project will not negatively impact the high school in terms of traffic and pedestrian circulation and can, in fact, serve to promote a vibrant downtown in Kelseyville. Analysis has been submitted to Lake County demonstrating that traffic volumes associated with Dollar General will not unduly burden area roadways and access has been designed to Lake County standards to ensure conflicts with the High School will not result. Also, it is important to note that peak traffic hours associated with the school are different than that of Dollar General. As such, no pedestrian or traffic conflicts are anticipated.”
Regarding community character issues, the document noted, “Dollar General will be complementary to existing commercial businesses along Main Street. There are currently a variety of commercial uses and building styles located along Main Street. Dollar General is an appropriate use given the surrounding land use patterns and conditions included with the Major use Permit further ensure compatibility.”
Dell did not return messages by Lake County News seeking comment about the appeal.
Michalynn DelValle, the planner processing Dollar General's two current applications, told Lake County News that Cross Development's appeal is tentatively scheduled to go before the Board of Supervisors at its meeting at 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 21.
Supervisor Rob Brown said he is recusing himself from considering the appeal because he owns land nearby, the value of which will be affected by the project.
Supervisor Jim Comstock told community members at the Middletown Area Town Hall on Thursday that he will not be at the meeting due to a family commitment.
So far, the county has not reported a change in the hearing date, as the board would still have a quorum and could consider the appeal without Brown and Comstock present.
A growing corporation
The new Dollar General stores in Lake County, and the two new proposals, follow a formula of 9,100 square feet – with a 7,400-square-foot selling floor – and a workforce of about six to 10 staffers, of which about 50-percent are full-time, according to company officials.
Dollar General is growing rapidly. On May 30, the nationwide chain opened its 12,000th store in the “small, historic town” of Juliette, Georgia.
In June, Dollar General reported its first quarter 2015 financials, with $253 million in net income compared to $222 million in the 2014 first quarter. Net sales increased 8.8 percent to $4.92 billion in the 2015 first quarter compared to $4.52 billion in the 2014 first quarter.
The locations in Lake County are part of a plan to place 100 new stores in California over the next three years, and 730 stores nationwide in 2015, according to Dan MacDonald, senior director of corporate communications for Dollar General.
MacDonald's estimate of new stores for California through 2018 is one-tenth the number given to MATH members at its May meeting by a Dollar General district manager, who MacDonald said was mistaken.
The corporation reported that it anticipates a 6-percent square footage growth in its stores, and also plans to relocate or remodel 875 stores across the country over the coming year.
MacDonald said Dollar General uses a number of factors to choose store locations. They typically build stores where there is a certain number of households within a five- to 10-minute drive. They also look at competition, traffic patterns, median income, future growth projects and need.
He said a community of 1,400 residents can support a Dollar General store.
While Dollar General is relatively new to California and the West Coast, “We're part of small town America,” said MacDonald.
He said the company has been welcomed in communities across the United States, while also acknowledging that they have faced opposition in some areas, which he attributed to being a matter of dealing with specific local issues. That was the case with a proposed store location in West Virginia that raised residents' concerns due to a traffic light and placement of the store near an intersection.
Whenever a company is growing at the rate Dollar General is, there will be instances of opposition, MacDonald said.
In the case of Lake County, the Clearlake Oaks and Nice stores are doing well, according to MacDonald, who added that he believes people are “voting with their money” and that the stores' success challenges the notion that Dollar General isn't welcome.
Regarding the concerns about the new stores, MacDonald said Dollar General is respectful and sensitive to community concerns relating to store design and aesthetics.
“We want the store to be a good fit with your local standards,” MacDonald said, explaining that the corporation has made modifications to store designs where appropriate to fit in with the character of a local downtown.
Cross Development is Dollar General's development partner, said MacDonald, explaining that the corporation works with developers who do custom build-to-suit work for it across the country. Cross Development is pursuing the local sites, and Dollar General will be the lessee.
MacDonald said Cross Development has made an investment in the Kelseyville site, and he said he didn't want to speculate about what action the development firm might take if the Board of Supervisors rejects its appeal.
“We think it’s a viable site. We believe there is a need in the community for our type of discount store,” said MacDonald.
He added, “We’re going to continue to pursue the site.”
Community members take action, discuss options
Kelseyville resident Peggy Robertson, who has attended the community meetings to voice her concerns about Dollar General, said the feeling after the planning commission meeting was great.
“The location seemed to be the biggest official stumbling block,” said Robertson, who also pointed to the “huge” traffic issue at the Kelseyville site and the potential for other businesses to close.
For Robertson, the community identity and character issue also is key, suggesting that allowing Dollar General would be the “wrong direction.”
“It seems Kelseyville should reflect what it would like to be, not just have to settle for what somebody could put in,” she said.
However, Robertson acknowledged, that community members who oppose Dollar General coming in have their work cut out for them.
Sinda Knight, president of the Kelseyville Business Association, also appeared at the community town hall and planning commission to voice her concerns, which she said were her own, and not the association's. She said the association wants to be kept informed of what is happening with the project.
“The majority of the members don’t support the Dollar General,” said Knight, noting the company's past performance is a huge concern.
However, she stressed that the Kelseyville Business Association isn't taking a formal stand, one way or the other, regarding Dollar General's store proposal.
Another community leader raising issue with the proposed location is Kelseyville Unified Superintendent Dave McQueen, who began going to preapplication meetings last summer.
At the May planning commission meeting, he asked if a traffic study was being done, noting the congestion in the area on a day-to-day basis due to the move of students on and off campus.
“End of August, all the way to the end of June, it's crazy,” he told Lake County News in a followup interview.
He said he hasn't formally requested the traffic study, adding, “I would venture to say that if you're doing a project like this, it's more like common sense.”
McQueen said his district is the town's biggest employer, but Dollar General hasn't done any outreach to him, which was a matter echoed by Lake County Planning Commissioner Bob Malley, whose wife is principal of East Lake School, which is near the Clearlake Oaks Dollar General store.
That lack of contact, said McQueen, has led him to conclude that Dollar General doesn't really care about the community, and will come in, whether it's wanted or not.
“I'm not against business, that's for sure, but I just think it’s a terrible place to have it,” he said, “My concern is the safety of the kids.”
If Dollar General can show him, through data, that the area is safe, then so be it, he said. “But I haven't seen that yet.”
Meanwhile, in Middletown, Dollar General hasn't yet completed its application, according to DelValle.
However, community members are on their own fact-finding mission, with a brief discussion of the planning commission's actions held at MATH's June 11 meeting.
“What's important from our standpoint, if we don't want the Dollar General to go here, then we have to make an argument that will resonate with both the commission and the Board of Supervisors,” MATH Board Chair Fletcher Thornton said at that meeting.
He said MATH needs to speak with one voice, and can't focus on issues like what Dollar General pays, noting that they're not the only ones who pay minimum wage.
Middletown resident Monica Rosenthal proposed forming a committee to look at the store proposal.
MATH Board member Charlotte Kubiak said the community can fight the store on multiple levels, including legal channels and activism.
However, Thornton was quick to point out, “Not everybody is opposed to it in Middletown,” noting he's spoken with business owners who support it.
MATH unanimously voted to form the Dollar General exploratory committee, with additional discussion anticipated at upcoming meetings.
At the MATH meeting July 9, Monica Rosenthal gave an update on the committee's efforts, which included objectively reviewing Dollar General's strengths and weaknesses.
In order to do that, the committee members read through the Middletown Area Plan – the updated version of which was last adopted in 2010 – which speaks to community identity, design and economics, Rosenthal said.
Rosenthal said the committee found several areas of concern regarding Dollar General when looking at compatibility, fitting the town's theme and lifestyle, signage and building design.
With regard to the latter, the plan calls for parking to be on the back of buildings facing Highway 29, but Dollar General's design calls for the parking to be at the front of the building, she said.
“The other serious concern is traffic impacts,” said Rosenthal, with the store across the highway from schools.
That afternoon, ahead of the meeting, Rosenthal spoke with Community Development Director Rick Coel who confirmed that Dollar General still had not submitted a complete application for the Middletown store.
“There could be a number of reasons for that,” said Rosenthal, from community outcry and the Kelseyville store appeal to Caltrans' request for “significant road improvements” at the site.
Rosenthal said Coel indicated that if a full application is submitted, that his agency will ask for changes to the plan, including putting parking behind the building.
Once a complete application has been submitted and the Community Development Department does an initial study, Rosenthal said the Middletown Dollar General committee will have something to work with, and could possibly submit a letter outlining its concerns to the county.
Robertson said this week that Kelseyville opponents of the Dollar General proposal have launched another effort with posters and petitions.
“There are posters in most of the stores downtown,” she said, with the message asking the community to help stop Dollar General.
Store opponents also have circulated petitions at the farmers' market and various downtown stores, and created an online petitions at https://www.change.org/p/lake-county-board-of-supervisors-keep-dollar-general-out-of-kelseyville , which is seeking 100 signatures. It had 57 signatures as of Monday night.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.