Your move, Walgreens.

No.NO! This is a bad move. Drug Mart attracts enough crap. Value World is going to be the same, if not worse. I do shop at thrift stores occasionally, don't get me wrong. But I do NOT want one in an already messed up forgotten about neighborhood. Why can't people think of putting a nice restaurant in? Try to spruce the neighborhood up for once. Come on, already.

Rick - soon enough!!!

Christina - as someone who shops at Drug Mart, your referring to me as "crap" is, quite frankly, insulting.

No. No and no. I shop there. I can see it from my front porch. I am not crap and if you took it that way then I apologize because it was not meant that way. You have to see that the eastern end of town seems to have gone downhill and if you don't see it then I don't know what to say. It's sad. We were suppose to get an Applebee's a few years back in one of those empty lots. Fell through. They should at least plant grass or do a playground in them. Not sure where you live but I see a LOT of stuff at Drug Mart and very close by. A LOT.

It seems like there isn't a clear vision for the eastern end of Lakewood. First it was going to be an enclave of upscale housing for people who wanted to live close-to-but-not-in the city, and now it's turning into a budget shopper's paradise.
And......yes, I shop at Drug Mart in Lakewood, and I do like the convenience as well as the prices. However, given the clientele I frequently see in there, the plethora of schmata that is sold there, the lack of attention to cleanliness and order in the stores, and the fact that it doesn't have an ounce of upscale 'feel', I fully understand what Christina is saying.

Lakewood....ALL of Lakewood, could be so much more than what we are 'settling for'. If we continue on the path we are now on, we will be little more than an extension of the negative aspects of a large city.

Although this sounds like good news, I noticed in the rendering that the proposed DrugMart will have a drive-thru. As highlighted by the McDonald's feedback, this is a problem for the residents of Lakewood and the City should not allow a conditional permit. As the earlier feedback stated & the reasons given for the enacted legislation indicated that drive-thru windows and stores that sell "schmata" will lead to addtional traffic, dangerous proximity to Garfield school & students could be attracted to cheap snacks and candy! We need to rally against this. As Barbara noted above, this will lead to an extension of the negative aspects of a large city.

Is Lakewood destined to become a community of chain drug stores, dollar/thrift stores, restaurants?

I have a business and reside next door to drug mart and am tired of East Lakewood serving as the city's dumping ground for it's low income residents. No business is going to want to be on this end if we don't attract people with disposable income. Our city government seems to do the opposite. There has been no pressure from the city on Forest City to complete it's development. If an average citizen owned the old Fairchild property they would have been fined into oblivion. The encouragement we felt when the Rockport development began is gone. Value World? Are they trying to attract the poor? The city's actions are a slap in the face to the good people who invested in the expensive condos across from me. People who were promised a much different scenario.

Angelo -- two points on your comments:

You say: "Are they trying to attract the poor?" - THE WORKING POOR ARE ALREADY HERE ... and the devide between those "with" and those "without" widens everyday.

You say: "People who were promised a much different scenario." - Are you saying that condo buyers were promised that all the poor people would be eliminated?? Who made this promise??

Poor people may already be here but the whole idea of a thrift store would only possibly bring worse.
I heard you stepped down from the Animal Welfare Advisory board? I found this out last night and was wondering why. It would've been nice to have chatted about this in person, too.

Um, the city DOES give a damn. Or at least the Animal Welfare Advisory Board does. Not sure why you think differently but they do. People of the AWAB developed the TNR program for strays (we got a grant from Petsmart). How is that not caring about our city? David Anderson is a city council member and he is a liason and he cares for animals. He was there. Not sure what you're talking about. They underminded nothing as far as I know. Can you elaborate?

@Christina, Are you a board member? You stated "We got a grant..." but yet you never talked to him directly. Who did you talk to? I have little problem with Mr. Anderson, it's the rest of council I worry about. Ask Peter, he knows...and WE support him.

@Steve--I should have worded things differently. I am not a board member but am a fellow TNR trapper and try to make the meetings although I have missed a few. There definitely is a grant and the city knows about the grant for the TNR for strays. Everyone seems on board with it and it's working out quite well actually. Who did I talk to? Everyone that's on the board! What's wrong with the rest of the council? You mean city council? True, sometimes it can be hard getting a hold of the city council rep for your ward. But if you care to elaborate somehow, that would be great whether on here or via email or message on facebook. I see no problems with anyone and the committee is doing a GREAT service for the animals of Lakewood.

@Christina, so you are saying Peter was not on board? I find that hard to believe. Any city that turns down FREE money, ala grant, is suspect. The board lost a good person, as did Lakewood. Talk to him yet???

Peter resigned is what we were told last night. Nobody went into details though. How did we turn down free money? We took it and now because of that we are helping all the stray cats in the neighborhood!! I don't recall ever meeting Peter. I'm still wondering why you question the committee or the council to begin with.

And no, I have not spoken to him yet.

Because WE lost a good person that truly cares about animals, but YOU have not spoken to him. Your loss and Lakewoods. Remember, He championed for TNR for cats and Anti-BSL for dogs...

Maybe Steve and Christina (and anyone else who is privy to their squabble) should meet for coffee, a drink....whatever, and address the issue/s in person instead of taking potshots via a public forum.

@Steve-it seems that everyone in this group cares for the strays and animals. You're right I have not met him--but for some reason he stepped down and I wanted to know why. If he was so good about the animals why did he leave?? Odd. And we're all doing a pretty good job now with the money that we DID take for the TNR program so there's really no problems with animal welfare.
Maybe some day we could all meet for coffee. You too, Barb. lol

All of a sudden I am the center of this discussion??

Christina - you say: "If he was so good about the animals why did he leave??" Again, that borders on insulting.

For the record, I left LASWAB a few weeks before my appointed term expired (May 16). No harm done! I am proud to have served and appreciate Councilman Juris' appointment.

Again for the record (from the minutes of the 04/16/12 Boards and Commissions Ad-hoc Committee: "[Councilman At-Large Brian] Powers stated that it [Lakewood Animal Safety & Welfare Board] is a nice active passionate group but there may have been hard feelings when items were not referred to the committee. He stated that in his opinion the ordinance regarding the group should be rewritten or the board eliminated. Mr Powers believes there are too many boards and commissions and is more inclined to get people involved in specific instances."

CAN WE NOW GET BACK TO DISCUSSING THE ORIGINAL TOPIC: "Abandoned Ganley Dealership Eyed for New Drug Mart"?

Insulting how? Yes they are talking about that with the possibility of the group being taken away but I think it's a ridiculous idea. It's a group that helps animals. Makes no sense to take it away and I don't understand why you or anyone else is getting all excited about this. I just asked why you left. This is absurd. The group is fine as it is and needs to be left that way. The end.

Yeah, I decided to write one more comment. You still didn't say why you left the Animal Board especially a few wks early. And in no way was I trying to insult anyone. If you took it that way then you're mistaken. The animal group is still together and should stay that way. If anyone knows any different he or she should speak up and say why or why not. Ridiculous. No need to respond.

It stemmed from a question why he resigned from the Animal Advisory Board which he never said why. Which is fine. I'm just stating the reason. I asked and then it blew up into all of this.

What does thIs string of ranting have to do with the Ganley / DrugMart project, which impacts every family with children attending Garfield school. Does no one care about the safety of the children?

I'm also tired of hearing this defeatist "inner ring suburb" crap like it's inevitable that we decay because of our aging housing stock. There's nothing that some leadership couldn't fix. How did Battery Park emerge from a worse scenario than Eastern Lakewood? I don't expect us to be Crocker Park but we should aim higher than Value World and an eternal empty lot.

Tim, the majority of the condo dwellers can afford them and some quite easily. There are also some who really like their homes but are tired of waiting for the rest of the package to arrive. Did you really say you know of no businesses in the area that would benefit from $200,000.00 condo owners? How about every business and to be accurate the condos directly across from me sold for close to $400,000.00. I know of only one resident selling because he can't afford it and that was due to his business collapsing.

So Tim how to you explain Battery Park? Those residents came to an area that was more impoverished than the East end of Lakewood. How do you explain the number of condos that did sell in the Rockport development? Yes, the economy tanked but it tanked everywhere and a lot of people weathered the storm and have disposable income and yes they will come here from Westlake if there's something to come to. A number of my customers are from homes in River, Westlake and Bay. Village. There also are people who find those communities too "Stepford Wife" like, too antiseptic. I agree that the number of people without disposable income is much larger. They already have plenty of places to shop in the area. We want a more balanced mixture. You site I Hop. What about The Melt? Deagans? Jammy Buggers? Why can't our end get places like that?

Angelo, AMEN to that!!!!!!!! Thank you. I TOTALLY agree. It is rather ridiculous that our end gets the shaft. And the others that don't see it that way obviously don't live or know the area well.

No Mr. Trevor I would not. But I would like to remove a large portion of the alcohol funded business establishments in Lakewood. We certainly have more than our share. Why doesn't the city do something about this? We have children who walk to school every day down Detroit Ave. and they pose a clear danger. Maybe the city should remove alcohol licenses and put the present owners out on the street so that better businesses can move in and brighten up our streets rather than having people puking on the side walks or getting in fights in the middle of the streets or even drinking and driving. And after that maybe the city of Lakewood can force some high end retailer or eatery to move in. It would certainly be an upgrade from say the "5 O'Clock" tavern that is currently there. Would Angelo and Christina agree this is also a fair proposal or do they only want some people to feel put out for Lakewood's upgrade?

Like it or not, the bars are businesses that seem to be able to maintain a client base.
I don't think they 'pose a clear danger' to children, and the Lakewood police have been vigilant about watching for DUIs.
You are contradicting your previous post 'high end retail and high end eateries are not coming to Lakewood...' when you state that by putting bars out of business, 'better businesses can move in'.
I'm not sure what your arguments are.

Mr. Torrence, despite owning a tavern I too am somewhat poor as my debt matches my assets. My tavern definitely needs an upgrade and like you I'm doing it as I can. My stance against Value Mart is an attempt to improve my lot and that of my neighborhood and from what you described you are not the type of neighbor I and others would like to see in less of a concentration. Your animosity toward liquor based businesses as well as your desire to put them out of business has been tried before and it wasn't pretty, much more reprehensible in fact than that tiny minority of consumers who overindulge. You want to rid this city of one of the main attractions to it especially attractive to young college aged residents. Again, your Deagans, Melt and Jammy Buggers all serve alcohol and are great additions to our city. Maybe you can ban car dealerships too since people die in vehicles for more reasons than alcohol abuse. You need to get over your imagined insult from our stance on this issue. I agree change needs to begin with individuals but no matter how nice I make my apartment (and it's damn nice) it won't make Forest City complete the Rockport Development. A palatial building would look silly next to ValueWorld.

You and I will never see eye to eye on this but it was interesting to see you react to irrational fears of bars. That hint of business freedom coupled with personal responsibility was refreshing. Although it only applies when you or your vision are involved. For the record I frequent alcohol establishments on Saturdays and I do not hold bars responsible for serving people exactly what they ask for. I will not respond further but I would like to see a response to S. Trevor. Don't back peddle I read your comments in the exact same manner.

Not sure what you mean by responding to Mr. Trevor as I thought I was. Identifying myself and my property in a blog like this hardly qualifies as backpedaling and I'm still not sure what your position is. If it's business freedom from government intervention it doesn't completely apply in this situation since the city owns most of the parking surrounding the Drug Mart property. Any business coming in has to lease from the city giving the city more of a say than normal. If my business is a blight on this city believe me I have no problem with some high end retailer buying me out and if I'm lucky after paying off my 6 loans and the IRS I'll be able to buy my wife and I a cup of Joe. When the smoking ban passes we lost $100,000.00 in sales that year. I invested in a patio and put in a stage for live music as we could not sustain the place under those conditions. Then the economy tanks. The changes paid off as sales are back to normal but it all goes to others. Value World will probably be our neighbor despite my feelings about it just as the now purple and gold exotic dancer store is on the other side of me. You know if this continues I'll probably have to scratch any chances at those cups of Joe.