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DANG Founders
A declaration by the founders of the Davis Advocates for Neighborhood Groceries
West Davis should have a grocery store in the Westlake Shopping Center on Lake Blvd. One has been missing from there for more than two years, and if the owner of the center gets the Davis City Council to agree, the grocery store will be gone forever. The reasons that underpin the requirement for neighborhood groceries in Davis still exist. Now with Global Warming and the advent of Peak Oil, the logic and validity for ensuring a grocery serves West Davis are even more compelling.
For decades, it has been city policy to have a shopping center and grocery store in every neighborhood in town. Some of those reasons included:
- It was an important selling point for the homes built in the area and affects property values in the surrounding neighborhoods. Ask a Realtor if houses sell better when a shopping center is nearby. They do.
- Stores in neighborhoods help create stronger communities as neighbors see each other more when shopping. A lot of the “small town feel” of Davis is lost when opportunities to see each other in one’s own neighborhood diminish. A neighborhood store attracts about 1,000 people a day. That type of traffic strengthens the other stores at the center. Without a grocery store at the center, the other stores will soon wither, and we will have instead an office center that goes dark at 6pm every day.
- Traffic and driving are substantially reduced when a grocery and other stores are nearby. People actually will walk to get to their neighborhood grocery. Kids can do errands on their bikes. And when people drive, it isn’t as far as when there isn’t a store nearby.
- These reasons for the City’s requirement for neighborhood grocery stores haven’t changed. What has changed is how important it is for the City to advance policies that decrease our driving and increase our access to buying fresh local produce. Reducing air pollution and our carbon footprint will be the great challenge of our lifetime.
Likely more imminent with much worse short term impacts is the looming crisis of Peak Oil. The 1973 and 1979 OPEC driven gas crises created panic buying, long lines at gas stations and a major disruption to our economy. The coming crisis will be driven by ever increasing worldwide demand exceeding worldwide supplies, which are stagnant and will decrease over time. There will be great value for everyone in Davis to have neighborhood grocery stores and vibrant shopping centers that significantly decrease the amount of car trips that would otherwise travel through town.
The owners of the Westlake Shopping Center argue that no one wants to open a grocery store there, that the past stores failed, and that the site won’t support a grocery. He wants to turn the grocery store into offices and include only a 3,000 square foot convenience store that sells liquor, snacks and packaged items with some produce. Offices lease for 3-5 times what grocery leases go for. The resale value of a shopping center is based on the lease income. One of the owners said at a public meeting that they didn’t know the center was zoned for a grocery store when they bought it. This and their other excuses should not let them out of the required zoning so that they can increase the value of their real estate speculation to the detriment of 10,000 nearby residents.
The grocery owners, the city, and the neighborhood groups should work together to hire a professional to do an unbiased market analysis and survey of West Davis neighbors. This will determine how much organic versus conventional produce and goods could be sold, the value of hot entrees, salad bars and other ready-to-go dinners, and what other products will result in a successful grocery business at that location.
Finally, the owner needs to set the lease at a price that will attract and keep a grocery store there. This isn’t the $1.50 per square foot he has offered. A five-year no cost lease that the owner said publicly he offered to Fresh and Easy, followed by a more standard lease for anchor grocery stores in low trafficked areas should be set. The owners should also help with needed leasehold improvement including ways to reduce the utility bills. With a study in hand and reasonable lease costs, it is highly likely that a new tenant will be attracted to open a grocery in the center. In the meantime, the owner should continue to measurably re-habilitate the shopping center to overcome almost a decade of neglect and to attract a thriving grocery store there.
During the past 12 months over 500 people have attended public meeting s or signed a petition in support of a store in West Davis. There will be almost 10,000 people in West Davis without a grocery store if the owner gets his way. Please email helpdang@gmail.com to support the efforts of Davis Advocates for Neighborhood Groceries and to help with the circulation of petitions to the city council to retain a grocery in the Westlake Shopping Center. Thank you.
Authored by the following members of Davis Advocates for Neighborhood Groceries.