Target Store planned for Davis, California
Further exploration of the Target development described at the City of Davis, California website is a real eye opener, and rather startling in contrast to how the city of Franklin seems to have capitulated for a standard-issue Target.
Let's talk about what could have been. This is an excerpt from an article in the Davis Enterprise, Sunday, October 8, 2006, via targetindavis.com:
From the outset, the City of Davis had a series of very specific conditions for the project:
- First, that there was only one suitable location in the City for a store such as Target, on Second Street near Mace Boulevard, next to an existing EPA Superfund site;
- Second, the store would have to be a registered "green" building, incorporating energy and water conservation features, other landscaping and environmental features, and a new bus stop, making it one of only 10 LEED® (Leadership in Energy Efficient Design) registered environmental retail buildings in the world;
- Third, the City worked with Target to create a 110-foot setback from the commercial property line, rather than the 25-foot setback currently allowed by zoning.
Target not only agreed to the conditions but went even further to create a store that is a design fit for Davis. The Target Second Street Crossing project also includes:
- A 3-acre greenbelt planted with trees to provide a natural buffer around the project and reduce noise from I-80 and the rail corridor;
- Trees to shade at least 50% of the parking lot;
- Covered bike parking and bike accessibility;
- Recharge stations for electric-powered vehicles;
- Landscaping and run-off control methods, and;
- The use of wood, stone and other design features to make the store unique to Davis.
Very different from the attitude in Franklin, Wisconsin: "We're just lucky to get a Target."
Target is very receptive to green development and community design issues when it works with a city that can make green development and community design a priority. See the Target environmental philosophy here.
"Target goes green to please Davis" article in the extended.
Target goes green to please Davis
By Claire St. John ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
Published Oct 12, 2006 - 14:24:37 CDT.
The Target Corp. knew it had to do more to get approval in Davis as the city's first big-box store, so it planned on several green measures, including planting 250 trees, supporting an extra bus line and making sure a bike path runs alongside it.
"Davis is very unique and has a unique character," said John Dewes, Target senior development manager. "What we've worked very hard on is creating a store which does fit the character of Davis."
Target wants to build a 136,842-square-foot store that includes a 10,000-square-foot garden center on Second Street near Mace Boulevard. Accompanying the Target would be other, unnamed stores totaling 46,000 square feet.
Davis residents will decide the stores' fate when they vote on Measure K on Nov. 7.
Target's biggest concession to the Davis lifestyle is making the building LEED-certified, joining only about 10 other retail buildings worldwide.
LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, was conceived of by the U.S. Green Building Council to "define 'green building' by establishing a common standard of measurement," according to the U.S. Green Building Council's Web site. LEED also promotes sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, building material selection and indoor environmental quality.
Certification is based on points granted for each energy or green building attribute, with 26 points required for basic certification. Target is covering its bases by striving for more than 26 points in case some fall through along the way, ensuring that it will be LEED-certified.
The company has some practice with certification, and if the Davis Target is approved by voters, it will be the fourth LEED-certified Target.
A Target approved for County Road 102 and Interstate 5 in Woodland will not be built to LEED standards, but that doesn't preclude the company from taking green measures there, Dewes said. The reason Davis will get the greener store is because Target knows the city views itself as a leader in environmentalism, he added.
"We realized that was a step we had to take to fit into the uniqueness of Davis," Dewes said.
He said it will cost Target about $1.3 million extra to meet all the LEED criteria, which could include things as simple as providing showers for bike-riding employees, planting water-efficient landscaping, using less water or prohibiting smoking, to things as complex as installing a high-reflectance roof membrane to reduce a "heat island" effect; reducing CFCs in heating, air conditioning and refrigeration equipment; or using paint, sealant, glues and other building materials that don't emit air quality-affecting chemicals.
"Target has proven to be a responsive applicant and has shown a strong willingness to work with the community to arrive at a project that fits with Davis in terms of site planning, architecture, uses and energy efficiency," a city staff report reads.
But no matter what Target does, it can't change the fact that its Davis location is near a Superfund cleanup site, caused by Frontier Fertilizer illegally dumping pesticides into unlined pits for 10 years in the 1980s.
Test wells are able to monitor the contamination of a ground water plume 30 feet below ground, but the Target project will be displacing a cluster of testing wells and rebuilding them nearby.
Another problem is air quality, the one thing noted in the environmental impact report as "significant and unavoidable," even with LEED certification.
Between idling delivery trucks and thousands of estimated car trips made to and from the new shopping center every day, the air quality will be worse than what it might be under current zoning, according to the report.
"On one hand, yes, Target should be congratulated (for its LEED certification), but itís the bare minimum" said Rob Westergaard, a member of the group opposed to Target and a neighbor of the site. "Davis should make LEED a baseline, it shouldnít be something to congratulate them on."
For more information, visit www.cityofdavis.org/target, www.dontbigboxtarget.org and www.targetindavis.com.
ó Reach Claire St. John at cstjohn@davisenterprise.net or 747-8057.
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