Keizer shuns big-box stores


Grassroots campaign Keep Keizer livable collected 3,770 signatures in support of capping the size of commercial developments.

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Grassroots campaign Keep Keizer livable collected 3,770 signatures in support of capping the size of commercial developments.

If approved, the initiative would cap the size of any commercial development at 65,000 square feet, which is about 10,000 square feet bigger than an average Fred Meyer or Safeway. The one exception to the rule would be a parcel of land at the Keizer Station development just east of Interstate 5 where there is currently 650,000 square feet of large-format retail anchored by a Target and Lowes.

“We are not taking an anti Walmart stance or an anti-development stance here,” said Kevin Hohnbaum. Hohnbaum and his wife Jane Mulholland are the drivers behind the initiative and the group. “We just think there are more desirable ways to approach development in our town then to allow large format retailers to be next to our homes and parks.”

But while the proposed ballot initiative is receiving ample support from citizens – with nearly a 68 percent approval rating from the initial polling the group has done – developers and city representatives aren’t biting.

Read more at the Daily Journal of Commerce.

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