Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Target Corp. responsible for Kedron controversy

To John D. Griffith, Senior Vice President Property Development, The Target Corporation, Real Estate Department, Minneapolis, Minn.:

I am a director on the board of the Lake Kedron Homeowners Association, but I am also writing this letter as a concerned citizen. I know that I am not the first person concerned with the approach to the proposed expansion of the Kedron Village Shopping Center in Peachtree City, Ga., that has written to you.

In Target’s response to our first letter, you indicated, through one of your employees, that the issues associated with the proposed expansion are strictly the responsibility of the developer. I assure you that the name of the Target Corporation is directly associated with the proposed expansion. Target has been announced as an anchor tenant and since the beginning has been a focus of this very public discussion.

As a member of the Committee for the Responsible Development of the Kedron Village Shopping Center, I am privy to the information previously provided to you concerning the impacts of the proposed development on the health and welfare of our community.

Additionally, we have informed you of the position the developer has taken by disregarding our concerns and refusing to meet with the citizens.

Because the Target Corporation professes to be such a community-oriented organization, I can say that I am somewhat amazed by your indifferent response. As the anchor tenant, this development will not proceed without Target’s concurrence and you cannot abrogate your responsibility to the Faison Corporation, the developer with which you have decided to partner.

The fate of the proposed expansion of the Kedron Village Shopping Center has been placed in the hands of the Fayette County Superior Court. As an intervening party to this litigation, our committee will have a say in the final outcome, but the current situation could have possibly been avoided if all parties, including Target Corporation, had met to try to find an acceptable compromise solution.

Our committee is not against development, but the current situation has tended to polarize the community resulting in a considerable number of residents questioning the need for a Target store.

We have concerns regarding the performance of our city government in this process as well, but I hold the Target Corporation accountable to the values espoused in your literature, unless of course the values of community and environment are only advertising fodder. As your current and future customers, we again ask that you meet with us and listen to our concerns.

Marc J. Norris

Peachtree City, Ga.