Seacoast communities confront big-box development

Packard Development is ready to roll out a 357,000-square-foot shopping center on Route 33 in Greenland, at the site of the old Osram Sylvania plant. The project includes Target, Lowe’s Home Improvement and Stop & Shop stores. Greenland resident Bob McDonough, whose home abuts the development site, has paid close attention since the plan was first proposed in 2001. With only one legal decision standing between Packard and the development, McDonough has almost given up fighting the proposed project. 

“It’s too large of a project for this parcel of land,” McDonough said. He and several other residents are concerned about how the development will affect their property values. They also worry about traffic congestion on the heavily traveled thoroughfare and the environmental impact on Pickering Brook, which is connected to the Great Bog in Portsmouth. Portsmouth purchased 207 acres of land around the bog to protect it in 2001.  

Up and down the Seacoast, developments of this magnitude and greater are lining up to tap into regional draw and the growing population of places like Rochester, Greenland and Seabrook. While these stores generate tax revenue, jobs and shopping options, many residents are beginning to question the true cost of retail chains. How do these chains affect the local economy, environment, public services and other factors essential to the health of Seacoast communities?

McDonough worries that no one at town hall has asked these questions. “It seemed like they had already decided they wanted this before the first meeting,” he said. “The town thinks it’s going to be a tax windfall for them. We just really didn’t feel we got a fair hearing. There were a couple of meetings where some of the Zoning Board members weren’t even there, but they were still able to vote.”

McDonough joined with others to form a grassroots coalition called the Greenland Concerned Citizens. The group took legal action to stop the development. “We’ve had numerous legal suits, but we’re kind of at the end of our battle. It’s been six years, and we’re running out of money,” McDonough said, defeat in his voice. “We’ve spent approximately $20,000 fighting it. To us, it’s a lot of money, but to Packard, that’s nothing.”

Stacy Mitchell, author of “Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses,” has heard this story around the nation. A resident of Portland, Maine, and a senior researcher at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Mitchell has been studying the economics of big-box retailers and national chain stores, following where the money goes. She’ll speak on this topic at the Portsmouth Brewery on Nov. 1, hosted by the Seacoast Buy Local campaign.
After extensive research and hundreds of interviews, Mitchell concluded that big-box stores often have a negative effect on the communities where they are built. She’s also found ways in which communities are successfully fighting back.

It’s hard to imagine that the Seacoast can support any more big-box stores. The region is already home to five Wal-Marts, two Kohl’s, five Home Depots, three Kmarts and four Staples stores. But, more new developments are on the way. And, according to Mitchell, Seacoast residents who take pride in their downtowns should be worried.

“In many parts of the country, they’ve absolutely drained the vitality out of historic districts and have rendered those places more or less lifeless,” Mitchell said. When that happens, people have fewer interactions with their neighbors.

“If you hang out in a parking lot of these places (big-box stores), you don’t see the same sort of meaningful loitering,” Mitchell said. “It’s built for cars and doesn’t support a robust public life.”

Big-box stores also have a devastating effect on the environment. The single-story, warehouse-like structures are cheap and easy to build. They are usually surrounded by huge parking lots, which prevents rainwater from recharging aquifers. In Greenland, the development will cover 56 acres, including wetlands. The stores are usually on the outskirts of town and are rarely situated close to bike trails or bus routes, which means customers have to drive to get to them.

“Between 1990 and 2001, the number of miles driven by the average household for shopping increased by more than 40 percent,” Mitchell said. “Shopping-related driving for the country as a whole rose by almost 95 billion miles in just 11 years. It’s not that we’re taking more shopping trips, but rather that more of those trips are by automobile and the journeys are longer.”

In Seabrook, Developers Diversified Realty Corporation of Ohio wants to build a 500,000-square-foot, 15-unit retail outlet on 50 acres of land behind Provident Bank, near the intersection of routes 1 and 107. The project will include a Target and is expected to funnel an additional 2,000 cars into the busy intersection during peak hours.

“There are still some hurdles to overcome, but they’ve pretty much wrapped up their onsite plans,” said Susan Foote, chair of the Seabrook Planning Board. “The holdup is with the offsite plans, which are basically traffic and roadway improvements. My personal perception is that, if there are no snafus and everything is done how it is supposed to be done, then it will be a win-win situation.”

Foote believes the shopping center will offer residents the ability to get most of their shopping done in Seabrook, instead of driving to Newington or Salem. The project will also generate property tax revenue for the town.

Seabrook resident Frank Palazzo, however, thinks the DDR development is a bad idea, regardless of any road improvements. “As it stands now, in the summertime, you can’t get from Seabrook to Hampton Falls. There is a solid line of traffic. What is it going to be with 2,000 more cars per hour?” Palazzo said. “The town can’t stand that. The infrastructure can’t stand that. It will put a burden on our police, fire and, most important, the water.” 

Foote admitted there would be some negative effects. “The cons are, it’s also turning Seabrook into a border town shopping Mecca,” she said. When asked if the DDR development would put a strain on the town’s municipal services, Foote’s response indicated that it would. “That has yet to be worked out, but, with final approval, I’m pretty confident there will be some form of compensation to the town for the added services that are going to be required,” she said.

Palazzo’s biggest concern relates to the burden the new development would put on the town’s water supply. Seabrook gets its water from a network of wells, but many of them have become calcified with enough minerals to make them unhealthy. The town recently circulated a notice to residents, warning them about high arsenic levels, but maintaining the water was still safe to drink.

“They say, right now, you can drink it, but I haven’t drank this water for five years,” Palazzo said. “There are days when you wash clothes and they come out brown. And, how about the children drinking that water with arsenic?” Although the town says it’s not a problem, “it was big enough for them to send around a notice. That’s not very encouraging. The whole infrastructure is being pushed to the limits,” Palazzo said.

According to Foote, Seabrook is in the process of developing new wells. If the studies are accurate, however, Seabrook will have fresh access only to the same diminishing water supply.

“You’re back to square one. You have a big fat straw again,” Foote said. “But, you’re still putting those straws into the same bathtub. I don’t want to imply that water is abundant.”

For the past two weeks, 90-year-old Palazzo has been standing outside the Seabrook Post Office, protesting the proposed development. He’s also been handing out literature and encouraging residents to write letters to their selectmen. “We’re trying to get a nucleus, to set up an organization to fight it. We’re going to wake them up,” he said.

Palazzo decided to take personal action after becoming frustrated with town officials. “They are not handling it. It’s their problem to solve, but they don’t solve anything. The Planning Board says only abutters can talk, but the whole town is abutters, because it affects everyone,” he said. 

Traditionally, any development has been seen as a boon, and local government bodies have encouraged chain stores to open new branches in their communities, often even offering subsidies and tax breaks. Developers approach the town touting the economic benefits of a big-box chain. They present a narrow set of statistics, and it’s often difficult for residents to see objective information, Mitchell said.

This summer, the Maine Legislature passed the Informed Growth Act, which requires an independent economic impact analysis of any retail development of more than 75,000 square feet. The study takes into consideration wage rates, costs of services, the impact on jobs and several other factors. Local governments can then decide whether they want any proposed development.

“This law gives them the authority to say no. It creates a process,” Mitchell said, noting that the study is funded with a $40,000 fee levied on the developer.

The law was passed after several successful grassroots campaigns urged local and state representatives to do something about big-box stores.

“In order to be effective, concerned citizen groups need to stick to the facts and highlight real numbers and economic issues when addressing local politicians,” she said. “It’s also important to bring a diverse number of people together. A successful grassroots campaign requires reaching everyone—writing letters to the editor, holding community meetings and bringing in experts to address the important issues.” 

On a recent October day, Rochester officials cut the ribbon on a brand new Kohl’s department store, which is the first major retail chain to open in the new Rochester Crossing shopping center at the intersection of routes 16 and 202. Kohl’s is the first of many stores on the way. “Lowe’s will be the biggest one and will open in November,” said Rochester Town Manager John Scruton. Several smaller retail stores and a Starbucks are already open.

“The towns benefit in a lot of ways,” said Lowe’s company spokesperson Maureen Rich. “Lowe’s is not just about providing products, we’re all about the economic benefits for a town.”

A typical Lowe’s generates 175 jobs, most of which are fulltime, with benefits, Rich said. Scruton estimates that Lowe’s, Kohl’s and the other new stores at Rochester Crossing will generate hundreds of jobs.

Palazzo is skeptical of the kind of jobs that Kohl’s will bring to Seabrook. “The jobs that they’re going to bring are $8 an hour jobs. That’s not living wages,” he said. “They’re not doing any favors to the town. If they were bringing in specialized jobs, paying $20 to $25, that would be something. But, we are not getting enough benefits out of it. They’re costing us money.”
Scruton finds the idea that retail chains bring in sub-standard jobs unfounded. “(Opponents) don’t understand what’s involved in running a modern shopping center. It does require skill to be effective in retail business. Most of the jobs might be paying less than a medical doctor or an engineer, but they’re paying a lot more than a lot of the jobs in the market out there,” he said.

But, Mitchell thinks Palazzo’s concerns are justified. “You can’t tell someone who is struggling week to week not to make a choice that is going to be to their immediate benefit, but we need to think about these issues on a bigger level,” she said. “Chain retailers are taking out more than they are putting in. You end up losing more jobs than you gain.” Mitchell cited studies showing that big-box stores caused several towns to lose jobs over time, as a result of locally owned businesses shutting down.

What does Lowe’s say to people who believe the stores have a negative effect on local economies? “That’s a common question. The bottom line is competition, and in the end, the customer wins,” Rich said. “By bringing in a store like Lowe’s, you’re providing more selection and more products.”

But, Mitchell said chains reduce people into simple consumers. “A strategy for these companies, when they’re trying to expand and build more stores, is to try and frame the debate as if people were one-dimensional and all just consumers. What they don’t want us to think about is that we’re also workers, business owners and stewards of the local community. They want to portray this as just another shopping choice, but it impacts the economy in a much more significant way,” she said.

“We should also challenge the supposition that it’s beneficial to consumers. These stores enter with low prices, and as soon as people get used to shopping there, those prices start to inch up slowly,” Mitchell added.

Rochester’s town manager is still confident that the development will benefit his city. In addition to job creation, the stores also bring tax dollars and construction work, Scruton said. He also thinks downtown Rochester will benefit from the box stores.
“I believe it has a spillover effect of economic activity, because it is a draw for people coming from other communities who might go downtown. There is a renaissance that comes with increased economic activity,” Scruton said.

Mitchell says the odds are against it. “Local officials, being strapped for cash, tend to get very excited about growing the tax base without increasing the cost to property owners. But, they don’t always look at the other side of the balance sheet,” Mitchell said. Vacant storefronts in downtown business districts mean less tax money for the town. Noise, traffic and the loss of open space can lower the value of residential property in the vicinity of these developments. Also, the developments add wear and tear to roads and demand added public services.

Mitchell pointed to Barnstable, Mass., as an example of a city where big-box stores are costing more money than they’re generating. A study by Tischler & Associates, an economic and planning consultancy, found that big-box retail in Barnstable generates a net annual deficit of $468 per 1,000 square feet.

The group that has invited Mitchell to speak, Seacoast Local, formed in 2006 and initiated a “Buy Local” campaign around the Seacoast, encouraging people to spend their resources at locally owned, independent businesses, in order to stimulate a more diverse and healthy economy and community. The organization is online at www.seacoast-local.org.

“Shopping at local businesses is a human-scaled, personal experience,” says ML Geffert, a co-founder of Seacoast Local and member of the board of directors. “Last week, I took my daughter and her friend downtown because they needed wallets. We could have found wallets at any retail chain, I’m sure. Instead, we enjoyed ourselves as we meandered among downtown stores. We had time together that was not rushed. We wound up in Prelude, and Holly (Landgarten, owner of Prelude) spent extra time to help the girls decide on what wallet suited each of them best. The wallets chosen were unique. The girls liked them and thought they were special. We made purchases that we needed, that were precisely suited to us and that, as a result, will probably be better used and last longer than anything we could have purchased at a chain.” 

Mitchell agrees that this is, in fact, the better investment, as locally owned businesses tend to spend more of their dollars in the local community. “Studies have found that, if you spend a dollar at a local store, it creates an additional 54 to 68 cents of additional economic activity in your community.” With a big-box store, only about 14 cents stay in the local communities, Mitchell said.

“I encourage people to look at their shopping patterns and look at the opportunities to buy things from locally owned businesses. Often times, you can get just as good choices and prices at local stores,” Mitchell said.

Other strategies for towns to consider include setting up retail incubators—downtown locations that provide affordable rent for small businesses. Also, Main Street programs can be effective. Cooperative wholesalers and trade associations are another tool. But, before undertaking any of these strategies, Mitchell suggests doing a market analysis of the local economy. Communities should look at what people are shopping for that isn’t being provided by local businesses.

Mitchell has seen these tactics prove successful in several communities across the country. “There has been a real shift in this issue in the last three or four years. There has been a sharp increase in the number of places saying no to big-box stores,” she said. “A lot of towns are adopting size caps, which, in effect, bans big-box stores from a lot of communities. I’m also very encouraged by the growing number of places that have business alliances that are undertaking buy local campaigns.”

On the Seacoast, the topic is starting to surface in political discussions.

“The importance of the Buy Local campaign to the City of Portsmouth is evident in the race for City Council,” Geffert observed. “Nearly every candidate has made some reference to buying local, promoting local businesses and sustaining our local economy. These issues are prominent now. They were not a few years ago,” she said.

As the Seacoast population continues to grow, the region will continue to be attractive to national retailers. That means Seacoast residents must ask themselves what they value about living in this region. Do people want a vibrant, historic downtown, or easy access to cheap products? Are they willing to sacrifice the landscape to cavernous buildings, clogged highways and vast parking lots, in order to have one-stop shopping? Can a smaller, local economy offer a better standard of living than corporate chains? The way we answer these questions will determine the fate of our communities.    

Stacy Mitchell, researcher with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and author of “Big-Box Swindle,” will speak at the Portsmouth Brewery (56 Market St.) on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.