Big, Bad Boxes 

Editor:

After reading "Blog Jammin' " in the July 21 issue of your paper ("Walmart, Jesus and Books Without Borders"), I was reminded by Ryan Burns, in his footnote, of what the Humboldt County Ad Hoc Committee on Big Box Development, a group appointed by the Board of Supervisors at that time, had to say regarding that topic: "A new big box retail store would have negative fiscal impacts on surrounding municipal entities, not increase jobs or the quality of jobs, significantly harm and potentially bankrupt existing businesses and reduce the overall quality of life throughout the county."

Thank you, Mr. Burns, for pointing out what so many have been, and continue to be, concerned about. I only wish that the current Board of Supervisors would take heed of what that committee addressed, in light of their desire to open the door(s) to that kind of development in Humboldt County, by being complicit in the so-called Richardson Grove Improvement Project that Caltrans is hell-bent on carrying forward. It is enough in itself to stop the project on the grounds of the huge potential for damage to the roots of the several dozen old growth trees that stand there, in OUR state park. Adding to that the negative economic effects, as pointed out by so many of the smaller businesses here, serves only to strengthen the case against that project, not to mention the two other pathways into Humboldt County that Caltrans is intent upon opening up - namely highway 199 and highway 299 - to the longer STAA trucks which big box stores like Walmart rely upon to move their goods into yet another municipality. 

For those businesses that feel the need for these trucks, perhaps you might consider moving to the I-5 corridor, if the bottom line is all that concerns you.

Bruce Edwards, Redway