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CONVENIENCE MAILING VERSUS GENERAL FOOD SHOPPING NEEDS 8. Consumers often frequent different types of supermarkets and grocery stores to buy food. A shopper usually goes once a week or possibly less frequently to a superstore, super warehouse store or hypermarket supermarket to make major food purchases. Shoppers also have a need for limited grocery retailing near where they live. Indian River County Zoning Regulations recognize this. The Limited Commercial (CL) District allows "restricted commercial activities... to accommodate the convenience retail (my emphasis) and service needs of area residents". (Sec. 911.10) In the SIC Code and in food industry trade publications, food stores that offer convenience retailing are clearly demarcated as convenience food stores. These stores are not supermarkets. Based upon my knowledge of this industry, other small grocery stores that are not supermarkets and small supermarkets (less than 10,000 square feet) that specialize in service or high quality specialty lines of meats or seafood or deli products also provide convenience retailing for area, (as opposed to immediate area) residents. Such stores are independent as opposed to chain store grocers. Independent grocers know that their competitive advantage verses large supermarket chains such as Publix, Albertson or Winn Dixie is precisely what the Indian River County Zoning Code requires... restricted commercial (in this case retail) activity that targets convenience food retailing and service needs of area residents. 9. This position is supported by the commercial facilities chart that planning commission staff refer to (Exhibit "D') when that chart is placed in historical context. The chart comes from 3rd Edition of Urban Planning and Design Criteriapublished in 1982 and reproduces specification from a 1960 edition of the Community Builders Handbook. According to this chart a neighborhood shopping center offers a "sale of convenience goods and personal services". It's service area has a 1/2 mile radius with 4000 minimum population. With 30,000 to 75,000 square feet it has a supermarket and drugstore as leading tenants with another 3 - 18 stores and shops. In 1960 this description may have been appropriate because the typical supermarket was under 10,000 square feet', and a drug store was even smaller. Today the very same neighborhood center would be anchored by a small independent supermarket (or grocery store with sales below 3.3 million). This charts delineation of the radius of area, 1/4 mile, is too small for 1960 and today. Consumers regularly drive 3 -4 miles to this type of shopping center.' Consumers regularly drive as far as 10 - 15 miles to shop at large supermarkets (superstores, combination stores or hypermarkets). 'National Food Commission, Food Retailing Technical Study, No. 7, U.S.G.P.O.: Washington, 1966, p. 191. "Che service area radius for the community and regional shopping centers in this chart are also inexplicably low. Consumers drive more than 4 miles to a 1 million square foot shopping mall. July 12, 1994 M 31 M BOOK 92 M