SELLING OUT DONNER SUMMIT FOR  STARBUCKS AND A SUPERMARKET?

It's discouraging to hear the (few,thankfully) people who feel that if Royal Gorge LLC convinces Placer County to let them plaster 1000 units up here, give or take a hotel or two, Donner Summit will become a regular, er, subdivision, just like you can find anywhere- one with a Starbucks and  a supermarket, and maybe a gas station thrown in for good measure.

You'd think folks would pay attention to the many people in Truckee who are aghast at what is happening to their town, in that the more development Truckee gets, the less real-people stores and services there are, with the downtown fast on its way to becoming a theme park.  Given this economy, it's becoming a theme park with vacant stores. 

Or you'd hope they took a hard look at the ersatz "village" at the base of Squaw Mountain, which looks like it's hanging on by the skin of its teeth. Do we really want that up at Donner Summit? Is it worth letting a developer bulldoze trees and carve up hillsides to assure ready access to a fudge bar from a "cute" bakery, and a latte?

Even if people are willing to trade the solitude and beauty of the mountains for a sprawling subdivision, you'd think they'd want to take off their developer issued rosy colored spectacles, and take more than a glancing view at  the present economy.

To whit, even Tahoe City, with zillions more people than Donner Summit, can't support a Starbucks. And a supermarket up here?  The amount of people needed to support steady daily business at a supermarket and gas station up here at Donner Summit would make us look like, say, Roseville, or Auburn, or Truckee...

Ever wonder what a supermarket would do to our Soda Springs Store, the one where they know your name and take the time to chat with you? Do you think a chain restaurant would help the Summit Restaurant at Donner Summit Lodge's business? How much pricey coffee are you willing to drink to make a chain coffee store viable?

 Why don't we work to preserve what we have, instead of selling out the beauty of our area for a sprawling subdivision which won't bring gas stations, supermarkets, and restaurants, despite what the developers dangle to the credulous?  Why would anyone want to squander an exceptional area of natural beauty such as Donner Summit, an area replete with history, on yet another subdivision? Don't we have enough of those already?