Do It Center disturbing status quo

6/09 tahoe mt. news

By Kathryn Reed

On June 16 the City Council is expected to resolve the Do It Center dilemma.
The Planning Commission said go ahead, move into the building that housed South Shore Motors. Robert Cosmi and Peggy Cocores, who own neighboring Scotty’s Hardware, have appealed that decision.
Competition is not a reason to deny the special use permit, according to city officials. Scotty’s and Ace Hardware already operate on Lake Tahoe Boulevard. Meek’s has a store in South Lake and Meyers. Other hardware stores exist within a short drive.
Councilman Bill Crawford finds a bit of discrepancy between Do It Center and Broc’s Puppies when it comes to emotion and practicality being part of decision-making.
“The Planning Commission approved the ordinance to close the pet shop. This is a matter of conscious and everyone says so,” Crawford said. “Broc’s and company had all the business licenses. They conform.
“Something is wrong with the procedure that on one hand you can’t exercise judgment if we have too many hardware stores, and then on the other you exercise moral judgment about puppy stores.”
The Planning Commission heard the Do It Center issue because it requires a special use permit. The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency is the keeper of the rules. This parcel’s allowable uses are at http://www.trpa.org/documents/docdwnlds/PAS/110.pdf.
Councilman Bruce Grego questions whether traffic will be an issue for the proposed chain hardware store.
Special use documents say a car dealership and hardware store attract similar numbers of customers. If that were true, the car dealership might still be in business.
“I think everyone votes their conscious,” Grego said. He said if Do It Center were so cut and dry, then staff could approve it. “I think we are going to have an interesting discussion if we have land use discussion on both sides telling us the law and what we can and cannot do.”
At the Planning Commission, Lew Feldman of Feldman Shaw in Zephyr Cove represented the out of town Do It Center owners. Michael Johnson of the South Lake firm Rollston, Henderson, Crabb & Johnson filed the appeal on behalf of Scotty’s.