To the editor:

A few years ago, James Smoot, proprietor of Fantasy Coachworks, decided that somehow he owned Yuma Drive at Lindbergh Boulevard.

Upset with the actions of an alderman in regard to a rezoning required for a proposed Home Depot store, he installed barricades reading: “ROAD CLOSED, Private Property, Trespassers Will Be PROSECUTED.”

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Smoot, believing he had made his point, removed the barricades.

Now it seems, Mr. Smoot is at it again. He envisions a shopping center at that same location, which will include not only a strip mall, but a convenience store with a whole bunch of gasoline pumps, a batch of condominiums and a plan to turn Flori Drive into a 50-foot-wide, four-lane expressway.

Oh, and by the way, there is a creek which would need to be redirected through a four- to six-foot diameter underground pipe, thereby calling for Yuma Drive to be raised 70 feet.

Good luck with all this, and especially good luck with “Grassroots” Povich and his loyal band of followers who are firmly entrenched up there in the Ronnie Hills subdivision, and no doubt watching these developments with a jaundiced eye.

Harvey Meyer

Green Park