One of the most controversial businesses to solicit Jackson in recent memory abruptly rescinded its application last month, ending two and a half years of often heated debate.

In an Aug. 28 letter, consultant Scott Mommer informed the city of Jackson that Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. was withdrawing its application for a 139,390 square-foot megastore 1 mile out of downtown.

"As such, we ask that the City and its consultant(s) immediately stop work on the Project," Mommer's letter said. Mommer, the site development coordinator for the project, offered no reasons for backing out and didn't return multiple requests for comment.

The proposal drew fierce scrutiny from the community because of its size and location near the Kennedy Mine in Jackson's scenic valley.

"Even if you didn't mind Home Depot, that just wasn't a good place," said Foothill Conservancy Executive Director Chris Wright. "It's like they went out there and found the worst possible location in the county."

Ultimately, it was the old adage - "location, location, location" - that may have doomed Home Depot's Jackson overtures.

"We tried to see if we could come up with something else that could be better," said Mayor Rosalie Pryor Escamilla. "We definitely looked around. Is there somewhere else they could go? There was nothing that really met their needs."

That included the abandoned commercial business sites outside of downtown and one near Raley's, which Target once considered.

Home Depot's attempt to cultivate a reputation of being sensitive to the surrounding environment and its communities' concerns hasn't always taken hold. Opponents were able to scuttle two separate plans for a Home Depot in Sonora in 2001 and 2002, and Sutter Creek residents voiced concern when the company entered into a tentative agreement in 2004 to locate a store in Sutter Hill. That deal with Sutter Creek developer Dennis Griffin fell through. Two years later, in March 2006, Home Depot submitted its application for the store on roughly 15 acres of land on Highway 49/88 north of the Jackson Gold Lodge.

The opposition mounted soon after, with citizens groups and concerned residents circulating petitions and organizing a downtown protest in June 2006. The Ledger Dispatch received dozens of letters, many from outside Jackson, opposing the project. Groups like the Foothill Conservancy, Amador Citizens for Smart Growth and Citizens for Preservation of Historic Jackson piled on.

The biggest sticking point was that the large store was targeted for a stretch of valley near the city's historic Kennedy Mine. Project proponents tried to allay fears that the store would irrevocably alter the viewshed and pointed to the potential benefits: More revenues for a city that was losing sales tax dollars due to a relocated auto mall; hundreds of jobs in a city that continues to witness shuttered businesses on Main Street. They pointed to existing stores in Placerville, Red Bluff and Lincoln for the economic benefits they brought and pledged to design something that would fit with Jackson's aesthetics.

That sentiment of cooperation was echoed by Placerville officials, who welcomed a store adorned with timber trusses and river rock in 2005, and Jackson City Planner Susan Peters, who told the Ledger Dispatch in September 2007 that the company was being "very responsive" to the city's requests.

But when it came to the community itself, every effort seemed to backfire. A free lunch scheduled earlier this year was labeled a cynical attempt to sidestep widespread community opposition by inviting only those identified as potential supporters. Company representatives cancelled the gathering for "Home Depot supporters and interested parties" days before its Jan. 18 date, citing an internal scheduling error as the reason.

At the time the company pulled its application, a consultant was preparing a final environmental impact report.

"We hoped the final EIR would be done many months ago," said City Manager Mike Daly. But the company's consultant released a draft that received dozens of critical comments, many of them calling into question the consultant's findings on traffic impacts. "It was taking their consultant a little longer than we would have liked," Daly said, "and, I'm sure, than they would have liked," to get the comments incorporated into a final document.

There was no specific date set for when that document would be done. Now it doesn't matter. Pryor Escamilla called the firestorm "Shakespearean - it was much ado about nothing."

Whether that's a good thing for Jackson or not depends on who's being asked. Pryor Escamilla speculated that many residents were happy to learn the news, but it could come at a financial cost. The city of Jackson recently approved a budget with a frozen police officer position and a $340,000 projected deficit that will have to be made up out of the emergency reserve this year. Daly said the city is banking on a rebounding economy and a more efficient local government to lead the way to a balanced budget next year.

"This wasn't the end-all, be-all solution to our issues," Daly said of Home Depot coming to Jackson, "but it definitely would have been a (help)."

"It's a shame what happened with Jackson's sales tax revenues," Wright agreed, "but that project wasn't a good match from the beginning and everyone knew it."

Placerville reported a sales tax boost of 16.6 percent shortly after Home Depot opened a store in 2005. But then the housing market imploded. Reuters reported earlier this month that Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement chain, was preparing for a one-year profit drop of 24 percent and expected to feel the pressure from a battered housing market at least through early 2009. The company has coped with falling sales by closing unprofitable stores and job cuts.

As to whether last week's project withdrawal was due to the current housing climate, Home Depot's own stock portfolio or local resistance to the project, Daly said, "I'm sure it was a combination of factors that went into it, but we didn't discuss it too extensively."

"My personal opinion is that it was more directly related to the economic downturn," said Pryor Escamilla, (a real estate agent). "Certainly all the community resistance didn't help, but my feeling is they pulled away because of the economy."

The retail sales manager at Meek's Lumber & Hardware in Martell was blase about the news. Meek's has survived nearby Lowe's, Mike Anderson said, and wasn't too worried about Home Depot. "Our niche is a little bit different in the building industry," he explained. "If you're actually going to build something, you're better off coming to us."

Daly acknowledged that many felt the costs of bringing Home Depot to Jackson would outweigh the benefits. Anderson was more relieved as a county resident than he was a Meek's employee.

A Pioneer resident, he enjoys driving to Jackson and was concerned about how the building might alter the town. "Sure, it's good to hear," he said. "Plus, a lot of our customers here didn't want it in Jackson."

Now they won't have to worry. "We're glad to see that project go away," Wright said.