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Support Appropriate Development at Carrollton and Claiborne

Collette Creppell, Executive Director, City Planning Commission
Councilmember-At-Large Eddie Sapir
Councilmember-At-Large-Elect Oliver Thomas
City Hall
1300 Perdido Street
New Orleans, LA 70112

Re: Walgreen’s at Carrollton And Claiborne

Dear Ms. Creppell, Mr. Sapir and Mr. Thomas,

I am writing in reference to the proposed Walgreen’s development at the corner of S. Carrollton and S. Claiborne Avenues. This development materially affects the Carrollton neighborhood as well as one of the city’s busiest and most visible public transportation hubs. As you may be aware, Walgreen’s has taken the position that virtually all of the design requirements mandated by the Planning Commission’s Inner City Urban Corridor district are impractical from a business standpoint, yet a new Whitney Bank complex currently under construction a few blocks down South Carrollton Avenue conforms to the district’s design stipulations, so why shouldn’t Walgreen’s?

Moreover, several years ago Walgreen’s signed an agreement with the city of Chicago agreeing to build stores incorporating all of the design elements being asked of them here in New Orleans. As they have continued to build these neighborhood friendly stores in Chicago, it appears that these stores must be economically viable. We are not asking Walgreen’s to do anything it is not already doing in other progressive cities across the country.

I am also troubled by the developers’ proposal to “relocate” the adjacent municipal fire station, at their expense, seven blocks and two major intersections north, to the far side of Earhart Blvd. Fire Station No. 25’s current location near S. Carrollton and S. Claiborne ensures a rapid response time throughout the Carrollton/Uptown area. Public safety and intelligent planning must not be sacrificed for commercial convenience.

Mr. McAlister, attorney for the developer, asserts on page two of his response letter that moving the drugstore’s entrance nearer to the Carrollton and Claiborne corner, as per ICUC design requirements, would make it “a de facto public transportation shelter,” with people standing near the doorway while waiting for buses or streetcars. While most drugstores would welcome an assured stream of customers, we’re told that these pedestrians would create “a security and operational problem” for Walgreen’s” and have “a chilling effect for shoppers.” A fair interpretation of Mr. McAlister’s statement is this: Walgreen’s prefers the kind of customers who drive cars and commute-not those who live nearby and rely on public transportation. McAlister even makes a clear distinction, on page five of the same letter, between “public transportation patrons” and Walgreen’s “parking patrons,” as if these were two different species entirely, and then goes on to say that the latter will be unable to “enter and exit at ease” due to the “loitering” of the former. What does this reveal about Walgreen’s attitudes towards New Orleans and its citizens?

Carrollton desperately needs a full-service grocery store, not another drug/convenience store. Walgreen’s promises of a future grocery store next door to itself should be backed by a guarantee. If Walgreens is serious, they will not object to having all building permits —for the drugstore and the grocery—bundled together as was done with the Sav-A-Center on N. Carrollton Ave. This will ensure that a grocery store is an integral part of the redevelopment. The City Planning Commission’s preliminary staff report (design review #20/02) recommended denial of the developer’s plans as submitted and set reasonable design provisos for the proposed construction.

I thank you for your time and consideration and respectfully urge you to reject this Walgreen’s proposal out of hand as being yet another absurd example of suburban-style, automobile-based development that benefits an out-of-state corporate chain at the expense of New Orleans and its citizens.

I would appreciate it if you would share your opinion with me on this matter.

I await your reply.

Sincerely,