Not Another

Dollar Store!

My concern is the Dollar General Store being considered by the DRB for a lot in the Village limits across from the hospital on Rte. 12 south.

I lay awake too long last night angry that we chew up and spit out any housing proposals that come into view. In the past downtown development has been looked at under a spyglass by most, and we tear down any Exit 4 development plans that come along. But we are letting a third chain store in a low-end, China import, mass merchandiser to come into our village district and completely re-engineer a piece of hillside land, which in itself is totally inapproporiate to start with.

The first Dollar Store was OK, not encouraged, but it was harmless as it went into an empty space. The second Dollar Store, displaced a long standing social and recreational business in town, only to end up putting the first Dollar Store out of business.

Now another entity wants to bring in "the Cadillac of Dollar Stores." What is that supposed to mean? Better yet, what does it say about the consumers in this area?

I think that most of all we need to re-educate consumers that buying cheap merchandise only leads to wasted money. What happened to the concept of quality vs. quantity?

I have stayed back until now to see what will come of this project and after reading last week’s editorial about the East Randolph housing project struggles, I couln't help but speak out.

We need to look at housing opportunities to grow in the village area, that is what Act 250 would like to see. Not sprawling rural development, but clustered community housing that puts the houses where the services and businesses are.

We desperately need a simple clean motel, not a hotel, not another B & B, a motel. We lose an extraordinary amount of business due to the fact that we have few overnight accommodations for the business and emergency traveler. We have consultants, salespeople, visitors to hospital and nursing home, funeral attendance, etc. who never spend a dime in town because they lay their head at least 20 minutes away.

We have had some real intelligent people try to solve our community’s problems over the years, and I cannot understand why we keep skirting the real issues. This is where our Chamber of Commerce should be working hard to attract business to this community that would foster growth, and fill in the gaps of our commercial structure.

Since returning to Randolph 14 years ago with my husband and children, there have been roundtables, community planning projects, and much concerned speculation. To date, most of it is smoke in the breeze. I feel like as a business district we still struggle for every dime, and keep going in circles with our development.

If you really care about what is going on in community development, get involved and speak up.

Andrea Easton

Randolph