Home Depot loses Home Depot loses (March 08, 2002)

Voters say no to big-box store near residential area Voters say no to big-box store near residential area (March 08, 2002)

By Bill D'Agostino

Mountain View voters thought outside the big-box on Tuesday, resoundingly defeating a ballot measure that would have allowed Home Depot to build a large store at the old Emporium site at El Camino Real and Highway 85.

Measure N was voted down by a nearly a two-to-one margin, with 4,436 voting in favor of the measure but 8,084 voting against it. The loss came despite the fact that Home Depot out-spent their opponents by more than double (spending more than $500,00 to the No campaign's approximately $200,000, as of mid-February).

Almost all of the money for the No on N campaign came from Burt Avery, who owns an apartment complex behind the Emporium site. In the final days before the election, Home Depot advertisements claimed that he was bankrolling the campaign because he wants to develop the Emporium property himself, an assertion that the Avery family has firmly denied.

With the measure overturned by voters, the future of the site - which has been vacant for six years - is now up in the air. Home Depot owns a long-term lease on the site, with about 45 years remaining, and company representative Joanne Chesler said the company is keeping its options open for the future.

Opponents want a hotel on the site, which they say would bring in more revenue for the city but less big-truck traffic in the residential areas around the site. However, Chesler said the company has received no inquiries from people interested in developing the site for a hotel or other use.

Even before a defeat seemed unavoidable, Chesler said that Home Depot struggled in the campaign to get accurate information to the voters.

But at the party given by Citizens Voting No on N, opponents argued that Home Depot also spouted misinformation, saying it misquoted the amount of revenue it would bring in, for instance.

The company had promised to make changes to the city's roads to lessen truck traffic - one of the biggest complaints by opponents - a promise the No on N group was skeptical of.

The grassroots campaign that opposed the measure threw its election night bash at its downtown office on Castro Street. From the first election results, "No" was in the lead and the crowd was celebratory.

When an early result came in, a jubilant Lawrence Vallandigham - the campaign chair - posted the numbers on the wall in hand-written black marker, the crowd cheered. Vallandigham, holding his wife's hand, walked away from the wall and shouted, "nail that to the church door!"

More than 40 residents and community leaders attended the celebration, including volunteers who took the day off work Tuesday to make a final campaign push. The group also made a last minute purchase of a gorilla suit, worn by volunteers who waved menacingly to rush-hour motorists on El Camino Real near the Emporium site.

Home Depot and Citizens voting Yes on N, by contrast, had a somber open house at the Hilton Garden Inn across the street from the Emporium site. Less than 10 residents and Home Depot employees and consultants attended, with former Mayor Art Takahara - co-chair of Citizens Voting Yes on N - and current council members Ralph Faravelli and Matt Pear making appearances (Pear also showed up briefly at the No on N party).

On Tuesday, voters of all political affiliations across Mountain View said they voted no on N.

Republican Elsie Perry voted No because there was already enough traffic congestion along El Camino Real. "They should have never gotten rid of the Emporium" she said.

Amadeo Donofrio cast a "no" vote because he worried what the effects a large Home Depot would be on local, smaller businesses in the city. "I'm generally against large corporations to begin with," Donofrio said.

Opponents of Measure N cited the revenue (more than $500,000 in sales tax for the city annually) and jobs (more than 200, according to the company) that the store said it would bring in.

One parent - she did not want to give her name - who cast her ballot at Therakauf Elementary school said she voted for Measure N despite pressure from her elementary school-aged son.

The credit for the victory, according to Tom Fortier - who has worked on campaigns fighting companies like Home Depot and Wal-Mart from coming into towns across the country - should go to the well-run grassroots campaign made up of largely Mountain View residents.

The money given by the Avery family was also a large part of the victory, Fortier said. "The campaign has been brilliant." he added, "as good as I've ever seen."