Thanks for your recent editorial “Just Barely” (Chicago Journal, July 15) on the proposed big box Target store in the West Loop.

My wife and I attended Ald. Fioretti’s recent town hall meeting at the Merit School of Music to share our concerns and our subsequent opposition to the proposal.

Yes, Target Corp. is a reputable outfit, but the issue here is not the few lower paying retail jobs that this endeavor will generate but how it will impact the “livability” of this growing quiet residential West Loop neighborhood for years to come. Community impact and homeowner property values, which depend on a desirable neighborhood location, is the “new reality” of this commercial development that concerns many of us who decided to purchase homes here.

Economic employment is cyclical, even considering how painful this recession is. But let’s put the shortsighted, irresponsible actions that caused this economic collapse aside and consider the fact that we’ll be living with the effects of this proposed commercial development project for years to come.

First, it’s obvious why Target Corp. has envied the potential of the location. Highway and mass transit access with a large population of UIC students in walking distance to the site will provide an endless stream of customers purchasing designer wastebaskets, toothbrush holders and other items. That’s not to say that West Loop homeowners and renters don’t make the same purchases but it has never been a great inconvenience to do so at Target’s South Loop location, which is at most a 10-minute drive away. For the car-less there’s always internet shopping or the bus. One Target spokesperson at the meeting referred to our neighborhood as being “underserved.” We take exception to that view.

Second, traffic in the West Loop is now moderate compared to the congestion we’ve experienced in the South Loop’s big box retail area off Roosevelt Road. Granted the proposed Target is only one store but once they’re in and other big box brands realize the commercial potential other West Loop property owners will be looking to cash in too. A written traffic study was not presented at Ald. Fioretti’s meeting other than the expert that Target Corp hired who stated that the impact would be “minimal.” An objective traffic impact study by government transportation planners is called for here before any further consideration is given to this proposal. The current approach is tantamount to hiring a fox to count your chickens.

Third, zoning. If this project is approved, Ald. Fioretti will be hard-pressed to deny any future zoning changes by property owners wishing to sell to other large retail corporations. There is also a lack of clarity on the necessity of a zoning change for the proposed site, with Target’s attorney stating that their project fits the current status. If that’s truly the case then why did Ald. Fioretti feel compelled to hold a community meeting on the topic? I suspect zoning is an issue and it is tradition that the city’s aldermen have the prerogative of approving or denying changes.

So let’s not let the current and temporary economic reality be the basis for a rushed decision. This is a matter for careful, considerate urban planning that should be based upon a vision for the type of community we want to live in, what economic opportunities we can create for local entrepreneurs and not a shortsighted quick fix as a remedy for the current economic mess.