In the 2003 City Council runoff election, both Matthew Goodman and his opponent pledged to oppose the construction of a new mall in Ames. True to this promise, Goodman was the lone dissenter Tuesday as the council moved one more step toward this end. Although Goodman’s faithfulness is admirable, he is on the wrong side of this issue. A new mall would be a boon for Ames.

The most obvious advantage is that it would open new and better shopping to residents from Ames and the surrounding communities. This sometimes gets overlooked in all the discussion of rezoning and marshland and sales tax and so on, but it is a tangible benefit everyone will experience. Hey, even we have to shop.

The other big selling point is the revenue the mall would generate for the city. Estimates on increased retail sales vary, but even ISU Extension retail expert Ken Stone’s lower-end estimate of $75 million would generate quite a bit in sales tax.

If developer Bucky Wolford’s numbers are closer to the truth, we could be seeing as much as $327 million in new retail sales, which would be a fantastic windfall for the schools and would help fund property tax relief and community improvements. Those numbers are extremely optimistic — even higher than those of Jordan Creek — but it seems safe to say there will be some financial benefit to the city.

The anti-mallers do have valid concerns. North Grand Mall will lose business and may fail. Environmental issues are always a factor and need to be balanced against the value of development. The impact on existing businesses and services needs to be considered.

Having a ghost mall in northeast Ames would be unfortunate, but the owners of North Grand have had ample opportunity to cut this issue off at the pass by expanding their own enterprise. They have failed to do so, rejecting opportunities in full knowledge of the consequences.

The potential impact on the nearby Ketelsen Marsh also seems to be overstated. It is hard to argue for the pristine nature of an area bordered on one side by Interstate 35. A mall may bring future pressure to develop the site but does not inherently harm it.

Small businesses in the community will have to deal with a new source of competition, which is never good for each individual business but is often good for business in general. Changes will be required in services — CyRide being the most obvious. Although this will cost some money, there is nothing inherently bad about it. If revenue from the mall covers these costs, it should be a non-issue.

Supporters and opponents agree that a regional mall will change Ames. The Daily welcomes this change.