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IKEA Bid on Life Support, But Still Breathing

Swedish furniture is not usually this controversial.

IKEA's bid to build a store in East Palo Alto has divided residents and the City Council on whether to allow the Sweden-based furniture company to build a store in the Ravenswood 101 shopping center. Over 100 people came to a special meeting of the East Palo Alto City Council Tuesday night, hoping for an end to months of disagreement.

They left three and a half hours later without a clear answer on the fate of the project, next March. People against construction of the store say that IKEA is too big for the proposed site near highway 101 at Donohoe Street. East Palo Alto resident Nancy Edelson said that fitting the store into the proposed area would be like putting size 5children's clothing on an adult. Opponents also wonder if the store will really help the town.

"IKEA will serve the Bay Area, not East Palo Alto," another resident, Kathleen Kinchy, said.

Traffic is another concern of those against the project, and East Palo Alto citizen Annie Loya says that congestion in the area is already so bad that she can't run errands until 8:00 p.m.

Citizens in favor of building the 320,000 square foot store in East Palo Alto want the city to get the 550 jobs and $1.8 million a year in tax revenue that IKEA has promised if the store is built. Marlene Smith said that she would prefer that a grocery store be built instead of IKEA, but said that the town needs the money Ikea would bring in.. Resident Selbia Smith doesn't understand the opposition to the project, and said that the town can't add to the traffic congestion it already has.

Businesses near the proposed IKEA site also favor the store's inclusion in the shopping center. Office Depot Executive Vice President of Real Estate Gayle Aertker wrote a letter to the City Council in favor of the project. His company has a store near the proposed IKEA site. Aertker said that IKEA's presence in the shopping center "will attract more customers, which would substantially benefit all existing retailers at Ravenswood."

The opinions on the project only affected a fraction of the City Council. Two of the five City Council members could not vote on the project because they owned or had interests in land within 500 feet of the proposed IKEA site. This left three members to vote on eight resolutions and ordinances, some of which required three votes to pass.

Council member Donna Rutherford announced early in the meeting that she would be voting against the IKEA project. Rutherford said that she felt the issue had been discussed enough at a meeting last month, which ended in the City Council deadlocked 2-2 on the first resolution.

What followed on Tuesday was a series of 2-1 votes, with Vice Mayor Patricia Foster and Council member Sharifa Wilson voting for the resolutions and ordinances and Rutherford voting against them. IKEA's fate looked bleak after the Council voted on the third item, which would have rezoned the site for commercial use. Needing three votes to pass, the ordinance failed.,

Vice Mayor Foster said that the land would need to be rezoned regardless of which business is eventually built on the site. "It's zoned for residential, we need to make it consistent with the general plan.," Foster said.

Before the council voted on the eighth IKEA item, members asked the city staff what would happen if the project was not approved. Agency Council Karen Tiedemann said that under certain circumstances, IKEA is entitled to be repaid the funds that it has advanced, some $1.2 million, because of its Exclusive Negotiating Rights Agreement -- or ENRA -- with East Palo Alto. The current ENRA expires next month.

Council member Wilson then asked the staff to find a way to put IKEA's future to a community-wide vote. Wilson said, "I think we should put this before the people." Wilson said that the council should then vote on the issue, reflecting the decision that the public makes.

Rutherford said that she did not have a problem with that idea. "I hope the people go out and vote," she said, "and certainly if the majority vote for us to enter into some kind of agreement … I can support that."

The city staff will present its suggestions at a meeting on November 20. The Council will discuss whether the issue should be part of the election, how negotiations with IKEA will continue past the ENRA's expiration date and how the item should be worded if it is placed on the ballot.