21 December 2021
To the Planning Board,
Hobby Lobby’s reputation proceeds it as an organization that has an extended history of noncompliance with laws at local, state, national, and even international levels. They have a record of labor violations going back decades, having amassed a litany of complaints for discrimination against LGBT employees and against employees who do not share the conservative religious ideology of the company’s founder.
Another example of lawlessness on the part of Hobby Lobby came in 2017, when the company was convicted of smuggling antiquities into the United States that had originally been looted from Iraq. And in March and April of 2020, Hobby Lobbies across the country violated state and local laws by remaining open in violation of closure orders that everyone else was observing during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Given that Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. has a longstanding pattern of violating laws and regulations that it somehow feels not obligated to follow, it is of particular importance that the City of Keene insist that Hobby Lobby put all their plans to paper as part of the permitting process, and avoid taking any shortcuts in approving the Site Plan for property alterations at 447 West Street.
In this case, Hobby Lobby is requesting exemptions from having to provide a Grading Plan, Landscaping Plan, Lighting Plan, and Drainage, Traffic, and Soils Reports, I urge that these exemptions be denied. This is necessary to ensure that the City – and by extension the public – has full documentation of all representations made by the company prior to the beginning of construction.
With respect to the importance of Drainage and Soils reports and Grading and Landscaping Plans, I am concerned that many aspects of this project – including new signage, changes to the façade, a new screening fence, and a trash compactor – could alter the drainage characteristics of the area. This could contribute to faster or more polluted runoff into the environmentally sensitive wetland areas of Ashuelot River Park that are adjacent to the property.
I am particularly concerned about the drainage in the area surrounding the building’s new trash compactor, which is a potential point source of both water pollution and litter. Moreover, without a full set of planning documents, it can be difficult to assess whether Hobby Lobby is taking sufficient steps to minimize the risk to the environment associated with locating a trash compactor in a flood zone.
Likewise, I have concerns about the lack of a Lighting Plan. If Hobby Lobby is to illuminate their façade – which they wish to change to a much brighter color – that could have an effect on migrating birds, dark skies in Ashuelot River Park, and neighborhood character.
Additionally, given this company’s reputation as a scofflaw, the City has a responsibility to get a firm lighting plan on paper now, as part of the permitting process, so that if additional skyward-pointing floodlights suddenly appear on the Hobby Lobby premises, they can be appropriately regulated as to avoid an adverse impact on the nearby bat population.
Similarly, I do not think Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. should be exempt from providing a Traffic Report, because the Traffic Report will be important to the work of the city planning department as development proceeds on converting West Street into a “complete streets” format.
Further, in connection with city and state efforts to reduce traffic in the area by making West Street more amenable to bicycles and pedestrians, I would like to know what Hobby Lobby is planning to do to provide safe access and sufficient parking for bicycles, including cargo bikes and e-bikes, on the site.
Give the importance of all these documents to the process, I urge the Planning Board to reject Hobby Lobby’s permit application as incomplete, withholding further deliberation until such time as all aspects of the Site Plan have been submitted.
Sincerely,
Bobby Williams
Keene City Councilor, Ward 2