Davie, FL. Wal-Mart Files Second Lawsuit After Town Rejection
Wal-Mart has more lawsuits than men’s suits. The retailer proposed to build a 24/7 superstore on 36 acres of land in Davie, Florida. The project was vigorously opposed by residents of the Rolling Hills Lake Estates, and Pine Island Bay. In July of 2006, Wal-Mart couldn’t muster a single vote when their project came before the Davie Town Council. The retailer’s plans for a 202,853 s.f. superstore were slam-dunked on a 4-0 vote. Council members ruled that the store would destroy local businesses and create too much of a disruption for nearby residents. Wal-Mart’s argument hinged on a legal settlement from 17 years ago that allowed larger stores than the town now permits. Not willing to respect the wishes of local officials, Wal-Mart filed a lawsuit in Broward Circuit Court in October of 2006, charging that council members wrongly denied their plan. On March 21, 2007, Sprawl-Busters reported that a Broward County, Florida judge gave residents in Davie, Florida a victory, siding with the town. But Wal-Mart appealed that circuit court decision in March, 2007, and last week filed a second lawsuit on the federal level. Wal-Mart went to federal court to try to get a judge to enforce the 1989 legal settlement between the town and the property’s former owner. Wal-Mart now owns the property, and is trying to use the 1989 agreement to allow them to build. “We’re basically asking a court to enforce the agreement we had with the town of Davie, so the town will do what it promised to do,” a Wal-Mart spokesman told the Miami Herald. The town’s lawyer says the 1989 settlement with a former owner does not transfer to Wal-Mart, and that the retailer is just “shopping around’’ for another judge. I guess they didn’t like the result they got in the state Circuit Court,” the town’s attorney said. Now Davie taxpayers have to ante up more money to defend themselves against a second Wal-Mart lawsuit. The town has to respond to the federal lawsuit by October 26th.
Read the rest of this story ...
Topics: Economic/Small Business | Traffic/Sprawl
Posted by Al Norman on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 | Permalink
Port Elgin, Ont. Opponents Challenge Wal-Mart On Women’s Safety Issues
Sprawl-Busters has written for years that one of the most dangerous places in America is a Wal-Mart parking lot. A superstore attracts more than shoppers. For criminals, Wal-Marts are a crowded, impersonal target, with easy access to the highway. Crimes at Wal-Mart range from check forgery to murder and rape. Parking lot crime is not a subject the retailer likes to talk about, but will have to in a case now pending in Canada. Citizens opposed to a proposed supercenter in Port Elgin, Ontario, have appealed the town’s approval of the Wal-Mart to the Ontario Municipal Board, and the safety of shoppers—especially women shoppers--- is a planning issue key in their case. The Toronto Star called it “a Wal-Mart fight with a twist.” “This isn’t a Wal-Mart issue,” the lawyer for Friends of Saugeen Shores, told the newspaper. “It’s a big-box development issue.” The Friends are presenting their case this week before the OMB, in an attempt to stop the superstore. The project is located right next to Saugeen Acres, a trailer park on the southern edge of the town. Wal-Mart has been systematically shutting down its existing Woolco stores, which it purchased in the 1990s, and replacing them with larger, more profitable superstores. The hearing began in August, and was originally slated to last around five days. But now the OMB is expected to take testimony over a total of 15 days. OMB Chairperson Susan Shiller has now scheduled an extra four weeks of witnesses booked for the hearing. The town of Port Elgin approved the Wal-Mart, on the anticipation that a larger store would bring more jobs and revenues to the town. The Friends have focused their case on traffic issues, and the impact on shopper’s safety as well.
Read the rest of this story ...
Topics: | Crime & Safety | Canada
Posted by Al Norman on Monday, October 22, 2007 | Permalink
St. Peters, MO. Wal-Mart Contract Glitch Stops At Pearly Gates
There are 11 Wal-Mart’s within 20 miles of St. Peters, Missouri. The supercenter in Wood River, Illinois is only 5 miles away---and St. Peters already has a Wal-Mart discount store on Jungerman Road. This 22 square mile community of roughly 58,000 people, located 30 miles west of St. Louis, has paid its dues to sprawl-—yet Wal-Mart wants a bigger share of the market. But according to the Wentzville Journal, Wal-Mart’s supercenter plans for St. Peters may never reach the Pearly Gates. Mayor Len Pagano told the newspaper several days ago, “I have not been told anything officially, but it is my understanding that Wal-Mart (officials) are reviewing their expansion strategy.” The 203,710 s.f. supercenter proposal on 37.5 acres of land has apparently gotten snagged over contract issues. “We remain very interested in the site and look forward to coming to St. Peters with a new store. However, with this particular site there were some issues with the contract and the deal,” a Wal-Mart spokeswoman told the Journal. “We unfortunately fell out of contract and are working at this time to again see what we can do.” The land is owned by a company called Executive Realty, and the developer is THF Realty. The landowner and the developer could not come to terms, leaving Wal-Mart caught in the middle. THF is the same company that pulled its Wal-Mart plans from North St. Louis in 2002, that bulldozed an entire neighborhood of 200 homes for a Wal-Mart in Maplewood, Missouri in 2002, that threatened homeowners with eminent domain in Wheeling, West Virginia in 2003, and that was fined for violating the Clean Water Act by the EPA in 2007 in Columbia, Missouri.
Read the rest of this story ...
Topics: Economic/Small Business | Traffic/Sprawl | Workers Rights & Wages | Zoning Regulations
Posted by Al Norman on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 | Permalink
Sherwood, AR. Neighbors Find Living Next To Wal-Mart Like A Living Hell
Do good walls make good neighbors? Mayor Virginia Hillman of Sherwood, Arkansas must be feeling somewhat embattled this month. Hillman describes the town she lives in as a rapidly growing community of 23,100 people located just a few miles north of Little Rock. She says Sherwood was rated by the Wall Street Journal as “one of the ten best cities in the United States in which to live.” But that was prior to the latest Wal-Mart controversy. The Mayor says Sherwood offers “a hometown atmosphere” with the “amenities of a larger metropolitan area.” One of those amenities has to be the ten Wal-Mart stores within 20 miles of Sherwood, including a Wal-Mart supercenter on East Mccain Boulevard just two miles away. When Wal-Mart proposed adding yet another 200,000 s.f. supercenter to the area-—this time in Virginia Hillman’s town-—no one in town government raised a finger to object. But now some of the residents of Sherwood may feel their “hometown atmosphere” has disappeared. Several weeks ago, Wal-Mart held a public meeting with neighborhoods which will lie near the company’s supercenter location. According to the Sherwood Voice newspaper, tensions were high between Wal-Mart and the 60 people in the audience “who complained about ponding water, mosquitos, months of loud dynamite blasts, the frequent sounds of rock cracking and smashing machines, clouds of dust, films of dust on their cars, shrinking property values, and houses for sale in their neighborhood that aren’t selling.” Like most communities that realize the truth about living next to a supercenter too late, these small town Arkansas residents only wanted to talk about the 12 foot wall they want Wal-Mart to build. “If you put up a wall then that will satisfy us,” said one Katye Lane resident. But Wal-Mart’s spokesperson was scripted to give residents the bad news: her company studied the cost of erecting such a wall, and concluded it would be too expensive and would make the Supercenter a less profitable operation. The spokesperson refused to tell neighbors how much such a wall would cost, dismissing the subject by saying, “Every (Wal-Mart) has to be able to support itself.” To build at this site, Wal-Mart has spent months blasting away at rocks. The retailer’s engineering firm admitted that they ran into more rock at the site than they anticipated, which resulted in added costs to the project.
Read the rest of this story ...
Topics: Community Impact | Crime & Safety | Economic/Small Business |
Posted by Al Norman on Monday, October 15, 2007 | Permalink
Venice, FL. Residents Ask for Boutiques, Not Big Boxes
None of the literature about Venice, Florida mentions a Wal-Mart supercenter. The tourist pamphlets say the proverbial “Venice Florida offers something for everyone,” including beautiful beaches, a quaint downtown shopping area, and the old Florida scenery along the Myakka River. The area boasts miles of white sand, sea shells and the prehistoric shark teeth which earned Venice the title of “Sharks Tooth Capital of the world.” But another shark---this one retail---is taking a big bite out of Venice. Construction of the Intracoastal Waterway in 1963 made an island of the Venice’s commercial district, and helped maintain the pattern of growth that exists today. The city made a point of preserving the original character of Venice, creating the Historic Venice District and an Architectural Review Board to ensure that new construction or modification of existing buildings conform to the northern Italian Renaissance style of the city’s original architecture. The state also designated the community as a Florida Main Street City to “assure the city’s heritage will be preserved.” Despite all this rhetoric, the chain stores were also attracted to Venice. There are 7 Wal-Mart’s within 20 miles of Venice, 5 of them are supercenters, including a supercenter right in Venice on South Tamiami Trail. But the Arkansas retailer wound up with sand in its coffee this week as local residents rose up in opposition to a planned supercenter on Laurel Road near the tony Venetian Golf & River Club.
“Wal-Mart would destroy the community that can economically support quality shops,” Venetian residents Ronni and Cos Mallozzis said in an email to city officials. The proposed 200,000-s.f. Wal-Mart inside the 73-acre Renaissance development east of Interstate 75 will come before Venice’s planning commission this coming Tuesday. According to the Herald Tribune, people in Venice want commercial development---they just don’t want Wal-Mart. “We really need commercial development, but we need the right kind of commercial development,” Venetian Golf & River Club resident John Moeckel told the newspaper.
Read the rest of this story ...
Topics: Community Impact | Economic/Small Business | Organizing
Posted by Al Norman on Monday, October 15, 2007 | Permalink
Target Hits the Bullseye with Social Media…Wal-Mart, Not So Much
Today on socialmediatoday.com, Jim Tobin from Ignite Social Media talks about how Target got it right with their latest Facebook strategy - and how Wal-Mart got it all wrong. In his article, Tobin notes how Target tried to work with the Facebook platform by listening, instead of doing what Wal-Mart did: working on pushing a “style” component while they are a company that is known for their “practical” side. Such actually reminded me of that “Come and see the softer side of Sears” campaign...that aside, need we remind you of Wal-Mart past online efforts, such as their Fall 2007 collaboration with Edelman that resulted in the fake blog, or flog, controversy.
Maybe not knowing the medium, or the message to try and get out through the medium, hurt their efforts - and resulted in the Wal-Mart Room mate Style Match group wall ending up with postings like “Wal-Mart is toxic to communities and livelihoods.” -while Target garnered comments about people loving their stores. Sounds like, as with overall strategy, Wal-Mart might be better sticking with what they are known for - and better off by listening to their customers.
How Target Got it Right on Facebook, and How Wal-Mart Failed [socialmediatoday.com]
Back in August, we wrote a post about how Wal-mart’s latest social media marketing campaign was inherently flawed. We predicted that it would, once again, blow up in the retail giant’s face. (Note to the folks in Bentonville: Let Edelman focus on the traditional PR. Give us a call on the social media marketing stuff, k?)
Here’s what we said then, in a nutshell: This campaign won’t work because Wal-mart is talking “style” when they are known for“practical.” The campaign should focus on the utility of trying to move to a dorm. Alas, it was too late for them to listen.
But Target, on the other hand, did listen.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Web Team on Thursday, October 11, 2007 | Permalink
Washington, D.C. Wal-Mart, The Property Tax Deadbeat
A new report from Good Jobs First released today concludes that Wal-Mart methodically attempts to lower its property taxes by challenging the assessments of its stores and distribution centers. Good Jobs First is a non-profit, nonpartisan research center in Washington, D.C. The group has documented in an earlier report how the giant retailer uses public subsidies to build its stores and site infrastructure. Today’s study, Rolling Back Property Tax Payments, charges that Wal-Mart “drains vitally needed funds from communities by regularly challenging the valuation put on its properties by public officials.” According to Philip Mattera, research director of Good Jobs First and principal author of the report, “When the company succeeds in one of these challenges, it diminishes the funds available to pay for education, police and fire protection, and other essential services provided by local governments.”
Good Jobs First reviewed a national sample of Wal-Mart stores and all of its distribution centers open as of the beginning of 2005. Wal-Mart has filed assessment challenges at more than one-third of its facilities around the country. At many facilities there have been appeals in multiple years. Overall, Good Jobs First estimates that Wal-Mart filed more than 2,100 property tax challenges nationwide. “These systematic property tax challenges are part of a larger pattern of state and local tax avoidance by Wal-Mart,” Mattera noted. “They are consistent with the company’s reported use of a real estate investment trust gimmick to dodge income taxes in many states. And they are consistent with the widespread property tax abatements, income tax credits and sales tax diversions that make up a large part of the more than $1.2 billion in economic development subsidies that Good Jobs First has documented in previous research on Wal-Mart.”
Read the rest of this story ...
Topics: Community Impact |
Posted by Al Norman on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 | Permalink
Study Finds Wal-Mart Doesn’t Pay Its Fair Share of Local Taxes
Study Says Wal-Mart Often Fights Local Taxes [New York Times]
Wal-Mart doesn’t believe just in lower prices — it believes in lower property taxes, too. The big discount chain has sought to reduce the property taxes it pays on 35 percent of its stores and 40 percent of its distribution centers, according to a report to be released today by Good Jobs First, a group that is critical of Wal-Mart.
Over all, the company wins lower taxes in half the challenges it brings, the group found. Because it had not seen the report, Wal-Mart did not wish to comment in detail, said a spokesman, John Simley.
Mr. Simley added that the study should be viewed with caution because “they are a union-funded group.” Wal-Mart has had tense relations with unions, which have criticized pay and working conditions there.
Good Jobs First said that less than 3 percent of its financing came from unions, with the bulk from foundations, including the Rockefeller and Ford foundations. The group said a donor, whom it declined to identify, paid for the tax study; the donor has no union affiliation, it said.
Read the rest of this story ...
Topics: Community Impact |
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 | Permalink
Page 131 of 204 pages « First < 129 130 131 132 133 > Last »
