I am completely astounded by the initiative of the city of Snoqualmie

to mandate that 75 percent of the businesses in downtown must be retail.

I, too, would like to see more shops in Snoqualmie, but not if it means

pushing out the people who make their living by providing services to the

people that live here. There are many wonderful locations to start businesses

in Snoqualmie, but of course there are only so many downtown

locations. Will the offices and shops and buildings that the city owns be part of

the allowed 25 percent of non-retail?

In the first place, I would not go to LaConner for a haircut. I would,

however, go to Snoqualmie for a haircut. Why? Because I live in

Snoqualmie. I’ll venture to say that there are

people in LaConner that go to LaConner for haircuts, too. As a matter of fact,

I would not go to LaConner to buy flooring, tiles, insurance,

prescriptions, or groceries either. None the less, I still have the need, from time

to time, to purchase all of the above.

Many of the statements in [the Valley Record two weeks ago]

regarding these new regulations tell me that the tourist dollar is much more

important than the needs of the community. Now, this gets me wondering …

who is it that really supports the businesses in this town? Who is it that pays

property taxes that support this town? How much revenue does the city

receive from the “non-profit”

organization that runs the railroad? Believe it or

not, some people don’t like to see the rows of rusty, broken-down trains that

run parallel with our town. Does the railroad pay taxes for the property

that they use to store their “relics”?

Now, don’t get me wrong. The train running up and down the

tracks is not a problem for me, and never has been. I like to see the tourists

come and enjoy themselves. As a matter of fact, many of them even drop into

the barbershop for a haircut. Would they be so enticed if they had to hike

stairs to get to the shop? Curt’s Hairstyling and The Main Barber Shop share

over 120 years of established business. If they get pushed upstairs, how do

their elderly customers get to their establishments?

I have always shopped locally whenever possible. In fact, I am a

proponent of supporting our local businesses, always recommending our

local shops to others. I’m trying to see what this initiative will look like in

the future. Will our community be forced to shop out of town to get the

services they need for daily living? Most likely.

SUSAN L. MAIN

Snoqualmie