Licata&#x92;s Flowers and Accessories is excited about its new home in downtown Lee&#x92;s Summit. We have chosen the location because of our loyal customer base in Lee&#x92;s Summit and the opportunity to be a part of a great community. We appreciate the recent news article regarding our investment in Lee&#x92;s Summit. Our goal is to make our services more convenient to our existing customers, create employment opportunities and expand the retail options for the downtown community. The new building will achieve all three of these goals. </p><p>I would like to correct one item that was reported in the article regarding our approval process with the city. The article may have left the impression that we were not pleased with the time required for our building approval. As the personal investor in the building and owner of Licata&#x92;s Flowers, I feel obligated to correct this unintended perception. </p><p>I found the city&#x92;s development staff and the city manager&#x92;s office very helpful and highly responsive to my needs. Together we worked through a very complex financial model that allowed me to invest more money in the building that would have otherwise been possible. I knew this process would take time and agreed to work through the many steps of creating the special taxing district to the approval of my final development plan. The positive attitude of the city staff in helping me was impressive. Because of their hard work, we were able to present a great project for the city council&#x92;s approval. </p><p>I would not have expected the reporter to explain the processes that we conducted to achieve our success, but I don&#x92;t want your readers left with a negative impression regarding the city of Lee&#x92;s Summit.</p><p>It is without hesitation that I would recommend any small business person to look at Lee&#x92;s Summit as a community to start or expand their business. Again, thank you for the nice article.</p><p>James D. Licata Licata&#x92;s Flowers and Accessories