THE PROPOSAL for a 71-acre shopping center in northwest Emporia has raised some hopes and stoked some fears.
The plan gives new hope to Emporians who have long dreamed of having a Home Depot or a Target store in town. It is only a hope, of course. Those names have not been dropped by developers. The project is little beyond the blue-sky stage right now and no tenants have signed up.
That is just fine with some other Emporians, whose businesses could be facing strong new competition if the shopping center goes through. Remember their letters in The Gazette when there was talk of a retail development on the Lyon County Fairgrounds? Their concerns will come back — and who can blame them?
Then there is the matter of the homeowners in the Deerbrook subdivision, just across 18th Avenue from the proposed site. What would a retail development across the street do to the value of their property? Increase it? Perhaps. Decrease it? Maybe.
With so many hopes and fears riding on the decision, the Emporia City Commission will have to tread carefully in considering the proposal. But a bigger question for the commission will be the zoning implications of allowing such a large retail development in that place. A shopping center on the scale proposed would move the city’s commercial center of gravity even farther to the north and west. In would, if successful, create a new river of traffic on streets designed for light travel. The project would also increase demand for water and sewage service. And what about water runoff from those acres of parking perched about Interstate 35 and the turnpike?
Beyond the immediate practical questions of traffic, utilities and land values, there are deeper questions to be answered.
Less than a year ago, the city began working on a long-range plan. How would this project fit with the plan as it now stands?
The city should have a clear idea of what happens next. Should the land north of 18th and west of the turnpike be developed into residential neighborhoods? What about plans for commercial development between U.S. Highway 50 and 18th?
For now, Home Depot and Target and their attendant benefits and problems are wishful thinking.
The questions for now are whether Emporia needs a large retail shopping center and, if so, whether far west 18th Avenue is the right place for it.
Patrick S. Kelley
Editorial Page Editor