How ironic is it that the Strip Mall Kings themselves,  Pomerleau Real Estate, would attempt to don the mantle of environmental stewardship and arbiter of responsible land use?

Perhaps taking a page from the Skip Vallee playbook, Pomerleau is challenging the new ACE Hardware project in St. Albans City on “environmental” grounds.  

They, who can think of no better way to occupy prime property on our city’s Main St. than with the St. Albans Shopping Plaza, should be the last to throw stones.  Said “plaza” consists of a sprawling parking lot, which fronts a sad little strip of single story retail and a uniquely under-serving JC Penney.

ACE Hardware’s new build, which will be accomplished as one of the TIF initiatives undertaken by the City, will replace an existing Midas Muffler shop, an isolated small box store and a whole lot of underused parking lot.  

The intention is to enhance the walkable and inviting environment of St. Alban’s traditional downtown.  The project will clean-up a brownfield and reduce impervious surface area on the property.  

The City currently owns the property.  By agreement, and after cleaning up the brownfield, The City will sell the new building to ACE Hardware franchise owner, Gordon Winters.

The rub for Pomerleau Real Estate? ACE Hardware is a current tenant of Pomerleau’s neighboring strip mall, occupying a narrow space between the post office and Rite-Aid.  Not surprisingly, ACE would like to enjoy the greater visibility and customer access that is possible in a location that is in line with other downtown retailers rather than set back behind an ugly parking lot.

Apparently vexed by the City’s collaboration with their tenant, Pomerleau Real Estate is hell-bent on making it as difficult as possible for them to complete the deal.  To that end, the Strip Mall Kings are trucking out a laundry list of siting issues with little or no substance.

For instance, they are raising run-off issues with the DRB that are really beyond that body’s scope; and besides which seem to be unsubstantiated, as the city itself has seen to it that runoff mitigation will be overbuilt for the size of the property.  That the project reduces impervious surface makes Pomerleau’s arguments appear all the more irrelevant.  But It seems to be Pomerleau’s intention to turn the laws with which they themselves must customarily grapple against this upstart collaboration.

Here’s a novel idea for you, Mr. Pomerleau: how about redirecting all that environmental zeal to your own property?  Reconfigure that inappropriate strip mall of yours so that it actually conforms to the guidelines to which you are so concerned that your new neighbors adhere.

Move the retail space nearer to the front of the property, make it two-stories high, and put the parking lot behind the stores.  Have a chat with your JC Penney tenant and see if, with a second floor, they might be willing to stock household goods like linens and towels so that City residents can shop centrally for those items.

Maybe if you take the same interest in your own property and its suitability for our downtown that you do in the property next door, you will find your tenants more willing to commit to staying. Then you wouldn’t have to waste time, money and community good-will on dog-in-the-manger fights you cannot win.