A developer's plan for a large retail complex in idyllic Hopkinton has many opponents, but the town could use the tax money.

01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, April 18, 2004

BY RANDAL EDGAR
Journal Staff Writer

HOPKINTON -- The New York to Boston stretch of Route 95 is a long succession of cities, exits and interchanges, much of it marked by heavy traffic and large doses of sprawl.

One section stands out as distinctly rural. It starts in Southeastern Connecticut and continues into Rhode Island, passing along the edge of the largest forested area in Southern New England.

"I call that portion of Rhode Island the southern greenway," said Kate Smith, a member of the state Land Trust Council. "You hit that spot on 95, and Rhode Island just turns to magic. It's like you're driving through the tips of the pines."

Here, where the highway provides visitors with their first glimpse of Rhode Island, a well-oiled development machine is bearing down on a town that looks like it never saw 1960.

Thirty, 40, maybe 50 stores, with at least one big chain store as an anchor, is the goal of W/S Development Associates, maker of a similar shoppers' mecca that opened recently in Smithfield.

Hopkinton, a town of about 7,900, stands to gain more than $1 million in annual tax revenue.

Despite those benefits, the W/S plan for Exit 1 has a list of opponents that starts in Hopkinton and stretches to Washington, D.C.

The town's Planning Board, its Historic District Commission and a consultant the town hired to study the area oppose the idea.

So does an organized and articulate group of residents called Hopkinton First.

So does Grow Smart Rhode Island, a nonprofit organization that seeks economic growth without sprawl.

And so does U.S. Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee, a Republican who has pledged to try to find federal money to buy the land.

While many of these people are open to development at Exit 1, they believe the W/S plan will spoil the rustic charm of a region.

"If we abandon that, and we let that turn into what unfortunately is happening across the United States, we've lost the diamond," said Smith, a Cranston resident who has joined the locals in their opposition. "We might as well call Rhode Island, New Jersey."

However, as a result of a recent vote by Hopkinton's Town Council, the fate of Rhode Island's southern gateway is in the hands of W/S Development. The necessary zoning -- adopted in the 1970s -- is in place, and W/S has right-to-purchase agreements signed with two families that own the land.

The Newton, Mass.-based company is checking the site to see what can be built, marketing it to stores and brainstorming themes the townspeople might like, said Robert Frazier, vice president of development.

"From the community's perspective, this should be a real plus," he said.

ACCORDING TO conventional wisdom, what are commonly called "big-box" stores provide convenience for shoppers and tax dollars for communities, helping them pay for schools, roads and public safety.

That's the case in Smithfield, which is reaping about $1.8 million a year from the W/S-built shopping center known as The Crossing, Town Manager Russell R. Marcoux said.

"It's produced a lot of jobs; it's produced a considerable amount of revenue for our town, with a minimal impact," he said.

While some say the $50-million shopping center, located just off Route 295, has added to local traffic problems, Marcoux says the tradeoff is a good one.

"There's very little service delivery that we provide for the revenue that we're getting," he said. "They don't put kids in the schools, and they've been a very good community citizen."

But the big-box equation isn't always so simple.

The stores -- epitomized by chains such as Wal-Mart and The Home Depot, with their box-like designs and acres of parking -- often attract strips of smaller stores. The result is commercial sprawl that swallows up land and local character.

Beyond the aesthetics, there are studies that suggest "big-box" stores are not always moneymakers for their host communities.

In some cases -- like Smithfield, perhaps -- they provide tax dollars while costing little in services. In others, they provide revenue, but add to costs for police, fire and road repairs. They can drive smaller, competing businesses -- and their tax dollars -- away.

A 1996 study on the impact of three Wal-Marts on the outskirts of small Iowa towns found the Wal-Marts reduced sales and lowered property values at existing, downtown stores. The study also found that initial job growth from the Wal-Marts was partly offset by losses at other retailers. Also, the value of existing commercial property often declined, or increased at a slower rate.

Kennedy Smith, director of the National Main Street Center at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said some communities -- often the smaller ones -- are better off with clusters of small stores.

"They can be more market responsive; they contribute more economically to the local community," she said. "And then there are just the overall design and aesthetic issues. Are we building the kinds of places that we will be proud of and want to preserve in 50 years?"

A 2002 study in Barnstable, Mass., concluded that "big-box" retail stores would be a fiscal loser, contributing $554 per square foot per year while costing $948. The study found that most of the cost would have been for police staffing and road repairs, because the stores would have been several miles off the nearest highway.

"Traffic produces a lot of costs," said Jackie Etsten, one of the town's planners.

IN HOPKINTON, four of five Town Council members say a "big-box" shopping center right off Exit 1 would be good for the town -- and timely. The town's tax burden is lower than average for the state, according to a Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council survey, but a proposed budget for the coming fiscal year would raise the rate by 17.4 percent.

"Education costs are going up, and expenses are going up. We've been trying to get economic development in this town for years," council President Linda DiOrio said.

"I'm not a proponent of big boxes, but I do believe that with proper controls, you can put in a development that can blend with the community, and it's not going to be as devastating as people make it out to be."

Hopkinton First leaders respond that no one knows for sure what the stores will do, even though there was time to find out.

Fourteen months ago, the council approved a building moratorium for the Exit 1 area. The goal was to study the area and find the best development options. The board hired a consultant, Pawlowski Associates Inc., which concluded that the best option would be a mixed-use village with retail shops, office space and homes, mixed with open space.

The council rejected the idea, saying the area would never be developed without a "big-box" store to anchor it. Whoever builds at the exit will have to spend millions on infrastructure -- roads, as well as water and sewer lines, they said.

With no further study, the board voted 4-1 last month to leave 1970s-era zoning in place and let the moratorium end. The move opened the door to big chain stores on 56 acres owned by the Gilman and Tutak families, who have signed agreements with W/S Development Associates.

The board also asked Town Manager Eric Strahl to pursue further studies of the Exit 1 area, which also has land zoned for manufacturing.

"They wasted their time and then they suggested that we should do some more studies. It's ridiculous," said Gary Williams, a ponytailed middle-school geography teacher who moved to Hopkinton 17 years ago. Williams, a husband and father of two sons, is the leader of Hopkinton First.

"This is about the future of Hopkinton and the future of Rhode Island," he said. "It's just too beautiful a place to lose."

TO SOME, the battle over Exit 1 points to Rhode Island's need for a new system of taxation that doesn't encourage local leaders to put the almighty dollar above all else.

"We're so reliant on the property tax to finance local government, it's what dictates the use of the land in many cases," said John O'Brien, chief of the Statewide Planning Office.

Statewide Planning, which aims to reduce "big-box sprawl" in its plan for the Route 95 corridor, and the state Economic Development Commission are watching the Exit 1 situation with interest, even if they are not taking sides.

But Grow Smart Rhode Island, a private, nonprofit organization that works with those agencies, is against big chain stores at Exit 1.

"If we're really serious in Rhode Island about recognizing quality of place as a major development asset, then we've got to make sure that we maintain that distinctiveness and charm that sets us apart from Anywhere, USA," said Scott Wolf, Grow Smart's executive director.

The hopes of people who oppose big chain stores at Exit 1 may rest on Chafee, who visited Hopkinton on April 5 and drove to the Gilman-Tutak land with local residents.

He talked of driving home on Route 95, into Rhode Island, and marveling at an area that is so different from the highway's northern entrance to the state.

"This one is very special. It's worth preserving," he said.

Frazier said W/S Development is open to meeting with Chafee.

"It's certainly not too late to talk," he said. "We want to a positive part of the community. We don't want to be a negative."

The property owners, meanwhile, are hoping Chafee and others stay out of what, to them, is a private land deal with history on its side.

"Exit 1 has been designated since 1971 to be where the town wanted its commercial development," said Jeffrey Gilman, one of the land owners.

The last-ditch effort is not the ideal way to fight the big chain stores, said Constance Beaumont, author of two books on super-store sprawl.

The best route is to have the right zoning and design guidelines in place. And if a community wants development, it should seek advice, she said.

"A community does need to do its homework, and whatever it's going to do, it should go into with its eyes open. That's why an economic-impact analysis is a good idea," she said.

Communities that aren't prepared for the battle might outnumber those who are.

In 1960, the country had four square feet of retail space per person, according to Smith, of the National Main Street Center. By 1990, the number was 19 square feet per person. In 2000, it was 38 square feet. Most of the increase from 1990 to 2000 came from "big-box" stores, she said.

But this is not to say the Hopkinton First folks can't win.

In Westford, Mass., opposition from residents convinced Wal-Mart to cancel plans to locate in town, even though the necessary zoning was in place. Residents even picketed at the company's Arkansas headquarters, one town official said.

The outcome was different in Barnstable. BJ's had the necessary zoning, and the Cape Cod Commission ultimately allowed the store, despite the study that showed a net cost to the town.

Etsten said the experience sheds light on a social truth: As much as some people say they hate "big-box" stores, they like the convenience and the potential tax dollars. And that makes the stores tough to stop.

"It's like trying to hold back the tide," she said.