The next meeting of the Jackson Planning Commission on July 27th could be a lively one. On the agenda is the issue of establishing an "LRE size ordinance" for the City of Jackson as proposed by the Amador County Citizens for Smarth Growth (ACSG) group.
An "LRE" is the acronym for "Large Retail Establishment", also known as a "big box store".
The ACSG has proposed that one of the ways for Jackson to control growth is to limit the square foot size of any new retail store. The idea is to avoid the problems encountered by other communities in regards to losing its character and small business base.
The ACSG proposal would require a "conditional use permit" for any new retail store over 50,000 square feet. The absolute size limit would be 65,000 square feet.
Kathy Allen, chairwoman of the the ACSG stated that although controversial to some, research has shown that there have been a number of communities that have adopted such ordinaces with great success. Like the ACSG, these communities are not stating "no" to retail growth but instead are attempting to get a better handle on it.
