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Site Fight of the Week: St. Tammany Parish

Topics: Louisiana | Community Impact | Organizing

Victory!

Great news out of Louisiana: Smart Growth Tammany, a site fight group roughly 30 miles north of New Orleans, has reached a settlement with developers. In exchange for specifically eliminating Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club (“or putting any other business connected with the giant retailer”) in the center, Smart Growth Tammany is dropping their opposition to the development. From the Times-Picayune:

Developers who want to build a $200 million retail center near Covington have agreed to build the center without a Wal-Mart Supercenter and Sam’s Club—big box stores that helped trigger vehement opposition to the project from the Smart Growth Tammany citizens group.

The two sides confirmed Tuesday that they are close to signing an agreement that would end a bitter, yearlong battle—including lawsuits—that has stymied the Colonial Pinnacle Nord du Lac center at Louisiana 21 and Interstate 12 and allow the project to proceed.

“My guess is this will all get resolved in a very, very short time,” said Bruce Wainer of the Wainer Brothers, which owns the 160-acre site for the proposed 1.1 million-square-foot “lifestyle center” to be built by a partnership headed by Colonial Properties Trust.

Wainer said all issues in the dispute will be resolved in an agreement being fine-tuned by attorneys. Once signed, “there are no more differences over the project,” he said.

“We’re really excited,” said Andrew Varvoutis, a board member of Smart Growth Tammany and one of the most vocal opponents of the development. “This shows you what can be done when people work together and do what’s best for the community.”

  • Click here for more information on the St. Tammany Parish site fight.

Posted by Russ Fagaly on Friday, December 08, 2006