Aptos residents express frustration with Safeway's expansion plans

Many residents carried protest signs to Wednesday's meeting in Aptos. (Photos by Tom Dunlap/Register-Pajaronian)

APTOS — A restive crowd of almost 300 people greeted Safeway representatives at the grocer’s Wednesday- night presentation of its controversial expansion plans for the Rancho Del Mar Shopping Center.

After a 45-minute Powerpoint presentation, moderator Deidre Hamilton of the Hamilton/Swift consultants to Safeway opened the floor to questions and comments, including some that had been submitted on index cards.

“Our town is going through a lot of changes,” Nancy Newman said, following up the response to her written question over the timing of the development, which seems primed to run concurrently with plans to change nearby Aptos Village. “There are more convenient places, but a lot of us choose to live here, choose to live in a quiet place.”

“We don’t want a two-story monstrosity coming in here,” Terilynn Reese said from the front row, to a round of cheers from the audience. “We don’t want tenants to have to pay four times as much rent. This is only going to push the chain stores coming in here. This is nuts.”

The plan to move a much-expanded Safeway to the other side of the shopping center, which will affect many businesses, is a hot topic in Aptos and it emerged as a major issue in the recent county supervisor race.

The winner, incoming 2nd District Supervisor Zach Friend, said that he encountered overwhelming opposition to the plan when he walked nearby neighborhoods and talked to residents.

The community meeting was held in the vacant space next to the Rite Aid in the shopping center.

During the meeting, Janet Yantis appealed to the room to simmer down, saying, “I want Safeway to do the right thing. We can’t make a decision unless we hear them out.”





For the complete article see the 06-20-2012 issue.



Share on Facebook