The San Fernando Valley Community Says ‘No’ to a Home Depot Megastore

More traffic in an area bordered by five schools with over 3,000 students, where the sixth most dangerous pedestrian intersection in the San Fernando Valley is located, and more noise for the area's residents are some of the reasons cited by Dr. Stephen Hubbard, author of the report on the Stop Home Depot website, and one of the residents opposing the arrival of a Home Depot megastore in the suburb of Granada Hills in the San Fernando Valley.

According to plans submitted to the Los Angeles City Planning Office, the home improvement store chain intends to establish a 136,000 square foot branch at the corner of Balboa Boulevard and Devonshire Street, where there is currently a cinema and a supermarket. Home Depot purchased the property for $40 million and is awaiting municipal approval to begin construction of the store.However, residents like Dr. Hubbard do not view the arrival of this branch favorably.

"The traffic there is bad all the time. It's a busy intersection, and you have students crossing there," he said. "It will be a disaster. Sooner or later, a child will get hit."

He emphasizes that he does not oppose Home Depot's arrival to revitalize the shopping center, which has been declining in recent years, with many closed stores. But he would like to see a smaller store. He is concerned about the traffic of trucks coming and going in the area.

Dr. Hubbard also sees the arrival of the store as an example of what happens when commercial interests and the affluent are prioritized over the residents' interests.

There is already a Home Depot store two miles from the shopping center where the new one would be located. However, that other branch is located on Van Nuys Airport grounds, which is seeking expansion as Santa Monica Airport will close in 2028, and many aircraft will be relocated there.

"They needed more land for the airport expansion and to accommodate the wealthy people they will displace from Santa Monica Airport," he points out.

The plan, he says, is to move a hotel next to Van Nuys Airport to the land currently occupied by Home Depot and use the hotel for airport operations.

"It's an economic injustice. It's about wealthy people parking their planes in Van Nuys, and the people living around this (shopping center) and the students lose," says Dr. Hubbard.

The Granada Hills South Neighborhood Council also opposes the project and has requested an environmental impact report before the Los Angeles City Council votes on the store.

The hope of the residents is that the report will show that the project generates too many problems for the area, and the cost of remedying these problems would be so high for Home Depot that they will abandon their plans.

For now, they are asking people to support a petition against the project.

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