Getting Started

Topics: New Jersey | Community Impact | Organizing | Ask Al

Ann Marie in New Jersey asks,

A Walmart is proposed to be built in our small town Berlin, NJ. We have formed a citizens group against it, however the city council thinks it’s a great idea. How do we convince our mayor and council members that they will destroy our small community and add to the already traffic congested area and deflate property values?

Ann Marie,

It is not unusual for city council’s to believe that Wal-Mart represents new jobs and tax revenue for their town. They often have no hard evidence to back up that feeling—but you can download a number of studies from our website that challenge the notion that Wal-Mart bring any “added value” to your town’s economy.

In fact, when you subtract out the lost revenues from other businesses that will close, plus the costs of added police, fire, road maintenance, water and sewer services, the net impact of a Wal-Mart on the local economy can be negative. Go to Battle-Mart, and search by “economic” to see examples of such studies.

But your local group also has to focus on the Wal-Mart application itself. Get a copy from your planning department. Read what permits Wal-Mart needs, and then look in your town’s zoning code to see who gives those permits, and under what criteria. Will the planning board make a recommendation? Does the city council have the final say?

Wal-Mart’s zoning request is a quasi-judicial case, and you will want to enter into the record some expert testimony on traffic, or wetlands, or perhaps even impact on property values from an assessor. To see more strategies, go to Battle-Mart, click on “battle plan” and then open “Battlemart 101.” It has seven basic strategies for fighting sprawl, and some idea about where to find allies.

Al Norman

Posted by Al Norman on Tuesday, January 23, 2007