TAOS — A group opposing a proposal to build a Family Dollar store in El Prado has collected more than 750 online signatures and a barrage of comments voicing disapproval of the project.

Taos Friends United describes itself as a "grass-roots organization" against construction of the retail store on a vacant pasture north of Taos renowned for its view of Taos Mountain.

The location is adjacent to the Overland Sheepskin Complex, at the corner of Ben Romero Road and U.S. 64. The 1.78-acre parcel is owned by Jim Leahy, who also owns the Overland complex.

A company spokesman said Family Dollar is considering building an 8,000-square-foot building that would open sometime in 2012.

Anonymous comments posted on Taos Friends United's website call the idea of a Family Dollar in the vacant pasture "an incredibly insensitive and blinding decision," "culturally and visually inappropriate" and "aesthetically repulsive."

In the three weeks since it was formed, the group has created a website, Facebook page and online and paper petitions to collect signatures of those opposed to the project.

Taos County resident Greg Weeks first spread the news that the Family Dollar chain — which this summer announced plans for a 9,300-square-foot Family Dollar store in Santa Fe at the northwest corner of Airport Road and Camino Tierra Real — was considering the Taos site.

While many of those voicing opposition decry the arrival of chain or big box stores in Taos, Weeks said the group is trying to keep its message focused.

"We're not against development," Weeks said. "We're all for well-planned development. But to me, a Family Dollar just doesn't fit there."

Joshua Braverman, a spokesman for Family Dollar's corporate office, told The Taos News that locations for proposed stores are selected by a real-estate team looking for sites that offer convenient access to customers. While many stores are put in neighborhoods or areas of dense population, he said some locations rely on traffic traveling between two places.

Braverman said he couldn't directly respond to comments posted on the Taos Friends United website, but he did say Family Dollar is open to working with nearby residents to "be a good partner" as the project moves forward.

"When we're in this kind of situation, we make every effort to involve the community in the development of a store so it's not an eyesore or something that won't fit in."

Braverman said the company's existing Taos store likely wouldn't close when and if the El Prado location opens for business. The company hopes to have the new store running by the second half of 2012.

Under the Taos County Land Use Code, Family Dollar will have to apply for a special use permit for commercial use in a rural agriculture zone before it could build a store in the proposed location. The store would likely need a parking variance as well.

No formal proposals have been submitted to the Taos County Planning Department.