Store owners: Frontier Plaza wall could hurt customers, kill business

Dave Cox walks away from construction near the north end of his parking lot complaining.

"It makes you feel like you're in an ocean here," he says, "and you're sinking."

Cox, the owner of the Grocery Outlet, is one of the businessmen frustrated with a wall being built at the south end of the Frontier Plaza, a shopping center at the corner of Winnie Lane and North Carson Street and just north of Cox's store.

When construction on the wall is done, vehicles will no longer be able to travel through the plaza from adjoining lots south of it. In the past, vehicles have traveled through the plaza to Winnie Lane to avoid going back onto the often busy Carson Street.

Cox said forcing customers back onto the street is bad for business and dangerous for customers.

"We do create a lot of business here," he said. "How are they (customers) going to get in and out?"

He said he can already tell the construction is going to hurt his store, a discount store that has been at its 1831 N. Carson St. location for 17 years and gets about 3,000 customers a month.

But the Frontier Plaza doesn't really have a choice whether to build the wall, said John Uhart, whose real estate company manages the plaza.

He said drivers have often used the stretch of parking lots as a road to speed around traffic, which can be dangerous. It's so dangerous, he said, that property owners North Carson Street LLC said an open parking lot had become a serious liability and a wall was the only way to make it safe.

Also, not all owners are upset about the construction.

The wall might be an inconvenience, but it is "good overall" and won't hurt his business, said Mike Ford, one of the owners of Nevada Gun Exchange. He said it will also slow down traffic and may "spiff up" the area.

Construction on the wall and general parking lot improvements is expected to be done in about two weeks.

Curt Spradley, owner of Carson Coffee in a parking lot adjoining the Frontier Plaza, said he understands that plaza owners don't want cars using the parking lots as a road and driving dangerously. But he said another solution, such as large speed bumps, would be better.

"I guarantee you if you don't slow down (for speed bumps), you're going to be in trouble," he said.

Legally, no one can complain about the construction, Spradley said, but "morally and ethically and business-wise, I think it's a bad move to block it across there."

City Planning Director Walter Sullivan said officials checked and found no legal problems with building the wall. The Frontier Plaza was required to remodel their lot but not to specifically build the wall, Uhart said.

Hannah Satica, owner of the Grocery Outlet parking lot, said businesses should work together to make shopping as accessible as possible, so building a wall between parking lots seems like a "hostile action."

Kirk Wentworth, owner of MedCare Pharmacy just south of the Frontier Plaza, said many of his customers are elderly and will have trouble with the traffic. He said he's concerned, but will have to wait several months to see how it affects his business of about 1,200 customers a month.

"I just wish we could let the old ladies drive through," he said.

Also, some customers agreed with business owners critical of the wall, saying the construction would make them come less to shop in the area.

Leaving the Grocery Outlet on Tuesday, couple Harry and Nancy Gammie agreed they didn't like it.

"It's ridiculous," Harry Gammie said.

"It will cause wrecks," Nancy Gammie said.

Businesses understand what the Frontier Plaza is concerned about, Spradley said, "but our concern is here."

• Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.