Recent Coverage

We are thankful for the coverage that Channel 6 has given us this week. Here is the story that they ran on their news yesterday.

http://arklatexhomepage.com/media_player.php?media_id=1395




The Shreveport Times had something to say about it, too...

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070502/NEWS01/705020323/1002/NEWS



Also, The Minden Press-Herald published this on Wednesday:

http://www.nwlanews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3967&Itemid=1


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Minden Walgreens Controversy

Reported by: Kimberly Williams
05/02/2007 05:39pm
KTAL TV

For the past 6 months Craig and Mona Farley have been seriously considering the possibility of allowing an out of town developer put a Walgreens on their property. "We had entertained alot of different commercial offers. But this is the frst time we had somebody say to us.... what would you take," said Farley. Mona says the developer promised to move their home, and relocate it to the lot of their choice. And that if the Farleys agreed to the deal, they would also have a say in what the architecture of the new business would look like. "It was a conversation for... for a lack of a better word...a possibilities," said Farley. But there's one problem, Mona's home sits in the heart of Minden's Historic District. And once rumors of the new Walgreens started getting around town neighbors like Jackie Lewis were up in arms. "We were really upset! When we moved here three years ago... It never occurred to me that someone could come in and try to develop our historic district," said Lewis. Jackie immediately went to work doing research, starting an on line petition and rallying neighbors to form C.A.R.R., the Citizens Against Residential Rezoning. Tuesday night he group even called a town hall meeting at the Civic Center. "We really want to take action now and stop this from even being a possibility in the future," said Lewis. But Mona says she and her husband are still just thinking about the offer and nothing is set in stone. "The brokers kind of threw some numbers at us, but we never settled on anything..."We're just not ready to commit to anything." And at this point the decision of what to do with the house on Homer Road is strictly up to the Farleys. Meantime C.A.R.R. members hope to enlist the help of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. That group could possibly help keep the Farley's property from being re-zoned in the future.

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(Historic District Debate)

Written by Jana Ryan
Minden Press-Herald
Wednesday, 02 May 2007

Controversy swirls around proposal

It was a mixture of emotions Tuesday during a public meeting held to discuss the possible commercialization of property within Minden's residential Historic District. And with any topic of debate, there are two sides to the story. It appeared, by the majority of those present in the filled-to-capacity Minden City courtroom, that rezoning property within Minden’s historic residential district is not an option. But for Craig and Mona Farley, owners of the 104-year-old Greek revival home that stands on the site in question, the proposal offers a chance to save one of Minden's notable historic homes and allows for the setting of building standards that are nonexistent at this time. Those on the agenda to speak included Schelley Brown, president of the Residential Historic District and the director of the Dorcheat Museum; Lynn Warnock-Dorsey, executive director of the Webster Parish Convention and Visitors Bureau; F. Lestar Martin, architect, Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation board member and chairman of the Louisiana National Register Review Committee; Jason Ebey, president of the Minden-South Webster Chamber of Commerce; Brooks Holstein, a representative of Retail Net Lease LLC, Florida, who confirmed during the meeting that the proposed commercial property is a Walgreens pharmacy; and Jackie Lewis, head of Citizens Against Residential Rezoning. Also speaking was Mona Farley; Sharon Nash, a real estate broker who brought Retail Net Lease LLC to Minden; and a number of residents who voiced their concerns, questions and opinions on the issue. Schelley Brown opened the meeting by saying no one present at the meeting was there to attack Craig or Mona Farley or the other individuals involved in the matter. "Most of us are here to keep the residential district just that — the residential district," said Brown. "We want to hear everyone's opinions and views. We want to encourage everyone to contact their city official and write to the local media." Brown said after hearing that the Farleys were in negotiations with a commercial developer, she met with the Farleys to discuss the situation. "Our conversation began with the fact that they had been approached months ago about this venture," said Brown. "My first thought was that the Farleys were the main ones against this same problem when CVS (pharmacy) wanted to purchase the Bridges Clinic on the other side of the street. So, now that it was on their side of the street, was it OK?" Brown said the Bridges property was zoned commercial at the time of the CVS proposal, yet the issue failed due to opposition from the people. She also questioned whether the Bridges would be eligible to file suit against the City of Minden if the Farley's property and neighboring properties included in the proposal were rezoned. Brown said rezoning the property to commercial would be a direct threat to Historic District residents’ "way of life" and would also threaten property values. "Many of us have put blood and sweat and lots of tears in these homes," said Brown. "Many others are living in family homes that are 100-plus years old. These are family legacies not to be taken lightly. "There are many, many places better suited for businesses and we welcome them, but not in a residential district and certainly not in a historical part of town," continued Brown. Lynn Warnock-Dorsey said she was present to express her personal views, not necessarily those of the board she serves. "As you know, tourism and economic development — I want you to know that we welcome all new businesses to Webster Parish," said Warnock-Dorsey. She added that she is concerned with the intrusion of commercial development in the Historic District, especially as there are so many other alternatives.Warnock-Dorsey said the Webster Parish Tourism Commission recently produced a new brochure for Webster Parish, which features and highlights Minden's Historic District."Historic sites are one of our top attractions for tourists in our area," she said, and added that the removal of the Farley from its current location would change the character of the community forever. "Please encourage our planning commission to keep the existing zoning as it is today," said Warnock-Dorsey. Warnock-Dorsey also made reference to the film industry's interest in Minden, saying the Historic District adds value to the City. F. Lestar Martin, architect, Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation board member and chairman of the Louisiana National Register Review Committee, spoke as a concerned architectural historian, calling Minden "a unique town which could be compared to any New England colonial village." Martin took those present through a tour of the downtown Historic District area, describing the "West Gate" (park with statue and gazebo located to the west); downtown's mixture of governmental and commercial buildings; an assemblage of churches and residences; and the East Gate (intersection of Elm, East-West and Broadway Streets with Homer Road). Martin called the "East Gate" a collection of historic architecture. "You have a town with a design equal to that of Savannah or several New Haven villages — consider, do you want to lose that?” Martin asked.Jason E. Ebey addressed the crowd and opened his discussion with the Chamber's recent adoption of a resolution showing support of the proposed commercial site. "I want to dispel discussion about the actions the chamber took," said Ebey. "We passed a motion in support of this move and support of this endeavor and support of this economic development. Portions of that are true. When this presentation was presented to the Chamber Board of Directors, a long, lengthy discussion occurred and what came out of that was a resolution in support of a potential gathering of information about this economic development happening."Ebey said the Chamber's role is to support economic development."That is our mission. That is our statement. That is our goal," said Ebey. "In doing that, we have to look at every type of avenue. A lot of what we do is gather information and then see is it feasible to fit in Minden, is it feasible for the location, is it feasible for the potential jobs that will be created - so forth and so on. Part of that resolution stated that."Ebey said the Chamber of Commerce supported "the potential gathering of information of moving this home and putting a commercial business in that area." "Many people, and sometimes in the press, it was left out about what our resolution was contingent upon," said Ebey. "There was contingencies in the resolution that I think should ease a lot of minds, and that contingency was that the resolution was only supported until we found out what the business was. "When we found out what the business was, that resolution became null and void," Ebey continued. "No longer was there support from the Chamber to the resolution, to the business or to the Farleys. When we found out what that business was, it would have then been brought back to the Chamber Board of Directors, of which I am the spokesperson but have no vote, and they would have discussed and decided, do we pass a resolution continuing to support this commercial development, do we pass a resolution against this commercial development or do we take a neutral stand. The resolution was not completely in support of this development. We were absolutely adamant that if a business was going to be developed on that corner, we wanted to know the information."According to a copy of the resolution, which Ebey told the Press-Herald passed by a majority vote, the last paragraph of the resolution stated the Chamber offered its support of resolution with the contingency that the buyer disclosed to the Farleys the specific business to be placed on the site prior to the signing of the actual purchase and sell agreement and that the Farleys approved of said business. “One thing that was very good in the Chamber's eyes is that if this development continued, we did not know if it would or would not, but one of the things that the Chamber continued to look at, and I think was a deciding factor in why this resolution was passed, was that this home would be saved. That was our thought process,” Ebey said. “If we can bring in commercial development at the same time that preservation can still occur, the Chamber was interested in finding that information out and finding out all of the details before we as a Chamber, as a group of businesses in this community looking to progress this town, made a complete and final decision."Ebey indicated that information regarding the proposal became publicized too soon. He said when this happens with economic development, there can be catastrophe and chaos due to a lack of information or the lack of accurate information. As a civic leader, Ebey asked citizens to find out all of the information regarding the proposal before determining what is good for the community. Brooks Holstein, representing the developer, took the floor and said he and his company pride themselves on being extremely aware and sensitive to what they do as a development company. He shared his background so that those present could have a "sense of the responsibility and experience" brought to this project by he and his colleagues.Holstein choked up and apologized to the Farleys for the reaction they have encountered from the public."Had I known that they would be so open to ridicule and personal attack, we would not have approached them," said Holstein, who said the Farleys have been faced with ridicule, criticism and lectures about how they should spend their life and their money."To be yelled at and screamed at in a restaurant with them trying to preserve their home and being accused of taking bribes?" said Holstein. "It is unfair. We don't have to do this project. We came to them with a good idea and we have been accused of bribes — we don't bribe people."Jackie Lewis, a Historic District resident and one of the leaders of the opposition, said it is very important to her to protect the Historic District. "I love my historic home and I'm very interested to protect its value," said Lewis, who added that her opposition was not an attack on the Farleys.Lewis read excerpts from information published by the National Trust for Historic Preservation regarding the expansion of drug store chains in traditional American downtowns. "Unfortunately, they often damage a community's historic places and its character," said the print out. "Corporate America is not accidentally knocking at the Farleys’ door," said Lewis. "Walgreens has made it common practice to target our historic districts across this country — I cannot stress to you about how many this has happened to."Lewis said Citizens Against Residential Rezoning (CARR) was founded to provide the citizens of Minden a voice in which they can stop spot zoning in residential districts. She said an online blog has been set up at www.helpsaveminden.blogspot.com where people can located contact information as well as an online petition, which has been designed to help protect Minden's historic residential district from commercialization. Mona Farley next addressed those present. She said when discussions first began with the developer, she included another neighboring property owner. She said this person, identified later in the meeting as Dr. Clyde Frizzell, was not offered the amount of money he wanted, which lead him to indicate that he would "kill the deal." "He called the press, he called the representatives and he called the mayor," said Mona Farley. "His goal was to get more money — and now he's pretty stressed out about it and you'll get to here his words in a few moments from a letter that just came through today."Farley addressed CVS' attempt two years ago to construct at the Bridges Clinic location and admitted to spearheading the opposition. In her defense, she said her opposition was an effort to come up with a way that the CVS project could blend with the Historic District and be a win-win situation."I talked purist," said Farley. "I said you need to figure out how to make this a win-win, because we knew it was coming."Farley said she thought this new proposal from Walgreens might allow for some rules and regulations to be established for economic development within the Historical District.Farley said she and her husband had never signed anything regarding the proposition and it was their intention to go to government leaders and the Historic District prior to the issue going before the zoning committee.Mona Farley called the current situation a "heartbreaker," and said she felt they had been taking care of the Historic District.Ebey next read a letter sent via fax to him from Frizzell, who is currently in Israel. Afterwards, more than 20 people took the floor to address their concerns over the issue, with many echoing the sentiments that they were not attacking the Farleys nor were they against commercial development; however, they were against commercial property within the residential district. Ralph Lee said the problem with the proposal was "financial." He questioned how many jobs would be created and what kind of sales and tax revenue could be expected with a new drug store. "Where are those taxes going to come from? Where are those sales going to come from?" asked Lee. "We've already got the same amount of sales going on — all you’re doing is getting it from somebody else (other drug stores in Minden). We're not increasing anything, it's taking revenue. As a matter of fact, we're losing money — going out of the state to Walgreens. I'm here to stand against this man's offer that drove a wedge in this community." Murphy Bridges brought up the proposed development of his property two years ago, saying that he lost a three-quarter of a million-dollar deal for his family due to the surrounding controversy."I'm just saying, if the City Council goes for this go-through, what she (Brown) said earlier (lawsuit) is going to come to pass," said Bridges. "The only reason our deal got stopped is because the company that was going to purchase our property backed out because of the petition." Leslie Rayner questioned why the development company wanted to redesign a residential area when there were other commercial properties available in town. Brooks responded by saying that the development company had been looking for several years at locations in Minden, but had not been able to acquire any property. He also indicated several notable characteristics that developers look for, including a location at an intersection with a red light. Beverly Abraham, who lives across from the Farleys, said if a Walgreens is built at the site, she will sell her home. "I'm not going to have my children and my grandchildren raised across the street from a Walgreens," said Abraham. Two individuals, including Jerry Holly, spoke up during the meeting, saying they had commercial property in Minden for sale. Chris Broussard urged those present to come up with measures to protect the downtown and residential Historic District, and Wanda Purtle suggested making the historic area an entity in itself with a board of directors. She said the board could then make a rule that no commercial business could approach homeowners within the residential district. Other issues addressed included traffic and deliveries associated with a business and the effects it would have at the Homer Road/Elm Street location and whether or not the Historic District itself could purchase the Farley home.


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Minden residents have their say in preservation, commercialization issue

By Vickie Welbornmailto:WelbornVwelborn@gannett.com
The Shreveport Times

MINDEN -- A spillover crowd of more than 100 people concerned about the potential relocation of one of this city's most prominent historic homes to accommodate a new commercial development squeezed inside the Civic Center's council chambers Tuesday night to get first-hand information on both sides of the emotional issue.From the onset, the Minden residents were urged to keep their passions in check with a reminder that a police officer outside the doors would remove unruly speakers. And while the informational gathering remained calm, tears and personal feelings were evident in discussion of the issue that threatened to strain neighbors' relationships.
The meeting hadn't moved too far when the audience received confirmation that the commercial entity eying the corner of 101 Homer Road is indeed Walgreen's. Developer Brooks Holstein of Retail Net Lease LLC of Florida made the announcement as he defended homeowners Mona and Craig Farley, whose property is at the center of the debate.The Farleys agreed to talk to Holstein after getting news six months ago about the condition of their home, which Mona Farley said would take thousands of dollars to repair. Still, in their talks with Holstein, the couple came up with a "wish list" of demands that would have to be met before they would move forward in negotiations. Included is covering the cost of moving the Farleys' house from 101 Homer Road to an empty lot at the corner of Broadway and Kirby Circle, putting the home in the middle of the historic district; erecting historic signage at the corner of 101 Homer Road, that also should retain its trees and garden appeal; restricting the new building construction to reflect the historical look and feel of the district; and donating $50,000 to the Minden Historic District.Schelley Brown, president of the Minden Historic District, said the proposed project is a threat to the property values of the area."No one is opposed to new business & Walgreen's or anything else. Minden has plenty of commercial property and new business is welcomed, but not in a historic part of town," Brown said. "My main concern again is where does it stop?"Holestein assured the residents that he is concerned with the historical significance of the Farley's home and his company would not have approached the Farleys if he had known they would be hit with "ridicule, criticism and lectures" from their neighbors."It is unfair. We don't have to do this project," Holstein said. "We came to them with a good idea & and to be accused of bribes. We don't bribe people."The more than two-hour meeting was filled with a number of Minden residents taking their turns at the microphone to express their thoughts. Many first directed their support toward the Farleys, who sat on the front row. Others pointed questions at Holstein."If we're going to get economic development, then let's do it. & I'm here to stand against this man's offer that drove a wedge in this community," Ralph Lee said.Murphy Bridges noted that most in the audience fought his family's plans to sell property in the same residential area to another business, stopping a $750,000 deal for his family. He said, "We have a right to sue the City Council" if they allow the project to go through."Why do you want to redesign our residential area? Why not look at commercial area?" asked Bridges.Holstein, who was involved in an attempt two years ago by Eckerd's to acquire the Bridges land, answered that his company has not been able to acquire any other corner location."Tearing down the home was never even a consideration," Holstein said of theFarley's home.Beverly Abraham, who lives across from the Farleys, said no matter how Walgreen's sugarcoats it, " It's still a Walgreen's there. I'm going to have to sell that property. I'm not going to have my children and grandchildren raised across from a Walgreen's. & I'm just devastated that something else is going to be put on that property."Minden business owner Jerry Holly drew laughter and applause when he told Holstein he owns three acres on the Homer Road. "I've been there 29 years. I can see selling my place."Webster Parish School Board President Ronnie Broughton offered thoughts on how people of Minden revere "their historic district.:" He reminded the audience of a school election many years ago that failed because it would have left several schools empty, but a more recent one that retained and upgrades existing schools received voter support.Jackie Hensley wants the Farleys to be able to have the money to fix up their home. "But I just don't want it to be moved."