It isn't often that we get to see what the future holds. Whether you are for or against Eagle River Station, the outcome of Jan. 5's referendum will irrevocably change our town.

I encourage every voter to see what has happened to towns and cities, big and small, from one end of the country to the other when a development like Eagle River Station moves in. If you consider actual results instead of developer promises, I am certain you will vote “no” on Eagle River Station.

Stacy Mitchell is a senior researcher with the Institute for Local Self Reliance. She will not benefit, in any way, no matter what happens in Eagle. She wrote a book in 2006, named one of the top-10 business books of the year, titled “Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses.”

While she acknowledges that developers promise growth, she documents that it is an illusion. “Although a new big-box store rising on the edge of town might appear to be economic growth, it is not. The vast majority of these stores are built not to satisfy increased consumer demand — the acreage of retail store space has been expanding 10 times faster than household incomes — but because a chain sees a predatory opportunity to displace sales at other businesses”

Think about what will happen to The Everything Store. With Target and a recently announced Kansas City-based natural grocer, think about City Market sales tax revenue that goes directly to the town, not the Eagle River Station Metro District. Think about your favorite place to get a beer or burger or coffee when out-of-state chains come in to take their place. What about attracting new businesses for retail space already built in Eagle Ranch? Who would be willing to risk a start-up when we all have only so much money to spend?

The developer, RED Development based in Kansas City and Scottsdale, Ariz., is also promising jobs. Here's what Stacy Mitchell's research has documented: “As local stores contract and close, communities end up losing as many or more retail jobs as they gain from the new superstore.” Despite excellent management, local businesses are unable to compete with chains. When they are forced to close, the “local premium” goes with them. Target funnels revenue out of state, depends partly on corporate headquarters for staff and has centralized supply chains. Don't think for a second that a job at Target is the same as a job at a local business where you know the owner.

The author details the negative consequences that have resulted from developments like Eagle River Station with chapters titled: “Chain Store World, Fading Prosperity, Blighted Landscape, Sometimes Low Prices, Monopolized Consumers.”

She also documents substantial costs that big-box developments create, including requirements for “longer roads, more road maintenance, additional miles of utilities and larger fire and police departments.”

She goes on to note “many land-use experts blame sprawl for much of the rise in the cost of local government. ... Once these added costs are factored in, retail development can end up costing a city more than it's worth.”

We are fortunate to have two land-use experts serving as town trustees. They both voted against Eagle River Station.

By voting “no” on Eagle River Station, we can join the increasing number of communities that know the impact and true costs of huge projects like Eagle River Station.

From 2000 to the time Ms. Mitchell's book was published, more than 200 big-box developments were halted by citizens who wanted a future that included local, independent businesses.

We already have a revitalized Broadway to support this effort and can implement additional strategies that have worked all over the country. If you want a prosperous and sustainable future, vote for your town.

Vote “no” on Eagle River Station.

Sheryl DeGenring

Eagle