Stop Ikea Press Release

By Ira Leitner

Traffic is stalled every Friday and most days after 3:30 PM. The Greenhouse Effect is made worse if Ikea goes in.

We know that you love living here in Dublin; so do we. That's why you have to listen to our message. You've probably heard about us through local newspapers and television, but we want the chance to hear who we are directly from us.

We are Stop Annoying Development (S.A.D), a group of concerned Dublin citizens that want everyone to know that our main goal is to preserve and help foster the character of Dublin.

It's true, we're against IKEA coming to our city but that's not our entire message. We want to make sure that any development that sets up shop here, whether it be residential, industrial or retail, is the right fit for our community. We want to make sure that big businesses can't just waltz into town and hypnotize our leaders with promises of large amounts of money in trade for a permit to build. IKEA has set a terrible precedence by doing just that.

The most important reason IKEA doesn't fit in Dublin is the immense amount of traffic they will impose on our city.

The furniture giant used an independent traffic study firm from out of state to produce their traffic reports. An out of state agency that came into town for about a short time and decided that IKEA traffic would not significantly change Dublin's traffic patterns. The California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) sent a letter to IKEA and their traffic consultants that their numbers were incorrect. IKEA ignored the letter.

The estimated traffic at peak hours is estimated at about 8,000 more cars on our roads. Even with the low-balled number of 8,000 more cars is too much for Dublin to handle. Whether you're at the intersection of Dublin Boulevard and Dougherty Road, traveling on eastbound or westbound I-580 or on San Ramon Road, chances are that traffic is already slowing you down. IKEA will only make that worse. IKEA targeted Dublin because of the customers they will draw from east Contra Costa County (Brentwood, Antioch, Pittsburg) and the San Joaquin Valley (Tracy, Manteca and Stockton). They chose that location because of the visibility from Interstate 580, an already traffic-crippled highway. The bottom line is that where IKEA sees traffic, they see dollar signs. The more people that see their store the better, they do not care that their store will make our weekday and weekend commutes worse than they already are.

IKEA doesn't care about the character of Dublin. IKEA doesn't care about the residents of Dublin. IKEA doesn't care about the traffic. IKEA only cares about making money off of us residents and that prime location off of I-580. We believe that Dublin deserves better than another chain of retail stores. We want to be known as a community of great character, not as "the place where IKEA is."

Join us in pulling the welcome mat out from under IKEA's feet. There's no room here in Dublin for IKEA.

The Greenhouse Effect is real and it's a looming danger. Please realize, we cannot keep polluting our air. Now's the time to stop any addition to traffic.

Traffic is already unacceptable. The more we pollute the air, the more we rush the Greenhouse Effect into not only Dublin, or Pleasanton, or even this valley.

The Greenhouse Effect is world wide and it's implications are to ultimately destroy our civilization. That's why nobody wants to talk about it, certainly not the candidates running for election. You don't promote "feel good," by talking about the Greenhouse Effect.

I agree with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his book "Crimes Against the Envrionment," where he expouses the theme that when it comes down to more revenue and ruining the environment, we must side with the environment.

For the environment sustains our lives, and when we interfere with our lives and health, dollars and cents mean nothing.

Please stop the traffic. Please, let us all find a way to get politicians to make traffic and fuel exhaust a top priority, while there's still time. The World Wide Greenhouse Effect has a trickle down, and it comes all the way down to our Hacienda Exit off of I-580. We have a responsibility to our neighborhood, country, and world, and we all can make a beneficial difference.