Editor’s note: This letter was written to Sylva Mayor Brenda Oliver and the town board.

A true test of your commitment to “smart growth” has been laid before you in the form of a proposed Lowe’s store at the junction of N.C. 107 and N.C. 116.

“Smart growth” means different things to different people, and may mean nothing to some people. I’ve heard it said that “smart growth” requires “smart planning”, and when asked what is “smart planning,” the response was “any planning.” The point was that “a failure to plan is a plan to fail.” I submit to you that smart growth means having and implementing a plan for growth that will guide development in and around Sylva for the next 20 to 50 years.

Growth is happening whether we like it or not, and our challenge is to have growth with a vision rather than unguided market forces looking out for corporate interests with no direction from those of us who will have to live with their actions every day. As elected officials of the residents of Sylva, I believe the responsibility to require good neighborliness from Lowe’s belongs to you.

The “Smart Roads” organization (of which I am not a member) has sponsored speakers and forums on “smart growth” principles, and I don’t expect this organization to be quiet now about a new Lowe’s coming here. The proposed site is in a larger area that has been studied by land-planning students for a new Traditional Neighborhood Development, which is a style of development designed to reduce dependence on the automobile for everyday life. The west side of N.C. 107 south of Wal-Mart and heading towards Webster is one of very few areas that is naturally suited for development of a walkable neighborhood. N.C. 116 from Southwestern Community College to the high school represents an area of high employment in the county (second only to the university) and is a place where home-to-work and home-to-school trips don’t need to be by car.

The traditional Lowe’s is the antithesis of this style. Lowe’s must have an auto-centric design due to the nature of its product. So, it should be located where a walkable community is less likely to work, like a half mile further south on N.C. 107, where more efficient access by car can be provided. If the reason that didn’t happen is because that site is not in the city limits, please offer to help with city services to that site in exchange for protecting the proposed site for a developer who wants to help build a community. Perhaps the town could facilitate a property swap to make this happen?

If Lowe’s has to go on this site, the town should require that this Lowe’s be something different, not a big box in a sea of asphalt parking, but an attractive multiple land-use landmark of which both the town and Lowe’s can be proud. Lowe’s will absorb scarce highway capacity and create a visual impact. They should mitigate these impacts.

Build residential collector roads around the site to foster traditional neighborhood growth and provide interconnectivity. Bring the building up to the road and put the parking on the inside of the site. Make the building attractive, not the blue box but an Eckerd’s with windows, or even better compliment the materials used in the credit union. It should have wide, 8-foot sidewalks with a 6-foot minimum grass buffer between curb and sidewalk, with the sidewalk fronting the building. I assume the building would front N.C. 116 because there seems to be more road frontage on that side. Provide pedestrian access and a couple of checkouts on the street side.

Build lease space in the store for a sandwich shop, (like a Quizno’s, Subway, etc.) so employees and others in the area can get a meal without hopping in the car. Show off your lawn furniture by using it outside the sandwich shop (which of course has a street and a parking lot entrance) in a roadside courtyard, which might also display Lowe’s garden home improvement ideas. Comply with the stormwater runoff ordinance using pervious pavement in the parking spaces. Weave pedestrian islands with landscaping through the parking lot to get shoppers to the front (or back) door safely as well as facilitate thru-pedestrian movement. Use attractive, welcoming pedestrian scale lighting in the parking lot and along the frontage, and turn them off shortly after closing.

As Lowe’s will be paying salaries in the $24,000 a year range, they should provide a multi-story apartment/condo building or townhome-style residences onsite or on adjoining property, affordable to those making $24,000 a year. If Lowe’s does these things, the town should greatly reduce the required number of parking spaces. I’ve never seen the Franklin lot more than a third full, even when inside the store seemed crowded.

Lowe’s has shown good cooperation with towns recently in Brevard and Murphy. I believe they can rise to the level I’m proposing. They might even sponsor a design charette for community input into the Lowe’s plan, and develop a plan for town development in the neighborhood around Lowe’s. This should be a concern for many existing Sylva and county residents around this site, Lowe’s future next-door neighbors.

Why is it so important to act now, you might ask? A friend at church told me tonight that he heard on National Public Radio that the world has reached “Hubbard’s Peak.” He explained that this is the point where half the oil in the world has now been consumed. The story explained that the consumption of the second half will go much quicker, with gasoline prices rising the entire time. The economies of China and India are expanding quickly and providing more competition for raw materials internationally. Americans spend a quarter of GNP on transportation with gas at $2 a gallon, but Europeans only spend an eighth with gas at $6 to $7 a gallon. Imagine a redirection of American resources away from consumed fuel and depreciating vehicles to investments in infrastructure: schools, libraries, parks and other public places. So if we don’t act, who will? If not now, when?

Americans are terribly dependent on gasoline powered car travel. We need to change our built environment so we can live our daily lives without this dependence. Our American freedom requires that we regain this independence.

I implore you to exercise the authority invested in you and help lead us to that place.

Reuben E. Moore
Sylva