Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 22:55:53 -0500
From: julia kennedy
Subject: Re: Chatham Chatlist #3282
Regarding liquor by the drink:
I have no moral or religious objections to LBTD but am adamently opposed to sprawl, especially sprawl perpetuated by giant big box corporations.
Jonathan Davis has a valid point regarding the influx of chains (first the restaurants, then everyone else will follow). For an example just drive up to that hellish stretch of 15-501 between Chapel Hill and Durham. Not my idea of smart urban planning-it is really just a race to see how much retail space (did we really need Indigo Corner at that intersection too?) can be packed into one ugly, crowded stretch of road.
I worked for one of the big boxes for several years and they don’t care about you or your community. They will tell you what you want to hear but wages are low, employees are numbers and most of that money will leave Chatham County to be added to corporate coffers (wherever they may be located). Their only concern is their stockholders and their bonuses. Food is often destroyed when it’s “freshness” time expires (we’re talking a couple of hours here, not days), not offered to local food shelters or even to their own employees. The waste is shocking and extensive. Many do not recycle adding to our already overburdened landfills. Merchandise left over from last chance and Holiday sales is written off and destroyed. Much of this would be welcomed by Habitat stores or area shelters. And just because they send out a corporate pledge to make you feel better doesn’t mean they
are following through behind the scenes. It costs them money to recycle food and merchandise.
This left-wing kook would prefer smart growth powered by incentives to locally owned restaurants and businesses which would further enrich (in numerous ways) our communiy and not encourage these soul sucking monuments to greed and commercialism.
Julia Kennedy