BOARD APPROVES CORDOVA, TN WAL-MART DESPITE SUBSTANTIAL OPPOSITION

Wal-Mart wins approval to build Cordova supercenter [Memphis Business Journal (Tenn.)]

The Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board approved Thursday Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s proposal to build a 152,000-square-foot supercenter store at the corner of Houston Levee and Macon in Cordova.

The approval comes only days after the Office of Planning and Development issued a staff report recommending to reject the project, mainly due to insufficient infrastructure to support such a large retailer.

At the meeting Thursday, Chip Saliba, manager of land use controls at the OPD, presented OPD’s arguments against the development, acknowledging the site improvements suggested by Wal-Mart, including a smaller structure, greater building setback from the west, more landscaping, reduced parking and a commitment to provide off-site intersection improvements to all four legs of the Houston Levee/Macon Road intersection.

The proposed building would also bear Wal-Mart’s new corporate logo and incorporate new design elements that aim to lessen its “big-box” effect, Memphis Business Journal reported June 26.

Attorney Mike Williams with Evans & Petree PC represented Wal-Mart, and said the mega-retailer is committed to investing $2.4 million to improve the “current bad situation” at the two-lane intersection of Houston Levee and Macon. In addition, he claimed that traffic studies show that a Wal-Mart Supercenter would increase traffic by 11.2 percent in the area, 1.4 percent more than the traffic increase expected from any other commercial development on that site.

The conceptual plan for the previously commercially zoned site shows an L-shaped shopping center faced by a 175,544-square-foot commercial building. Overall, the site contains nearly 316,000 square feet zoned commercial.

Several neighbors spoke to the board, expressing their opposition to the project: David Sanders of the Gray’s Creek Association said the plan goes against the guidelines adopted by Mayor A C Wharton’s Sustainable Shelby initiative; Gene Brian, president of the Cordova Leadership Council, said it’s an inappropriate site for a supercenter. Macon Hall Elementary School representatives said the project poses safety dangers to 1,100 students walking to and from school.

One neighbor, however, spoke in support of Wal-Mart.

“It’s better to deal with an enemy you know than with an enemy you don’t know,” Linda Philips told the board. “Why wouldn’t we want this horrible intersection to be improved on Wal-Mart expense?”

After hearing the parties, the board discussed the application as it relates to the previously approved zoning. Board member Angelo Lagonia said the commercial use of the site should be considered regardless of the specific applicant and its ability to attract customers.

“We’re charged as a board to review a site plan; we’re not here to evaluate the applicant,” Lagonia said.

Said board member Frank Colvett Jr.: “Theoretically, someone else could snag the 175,000-square-foot building, pay nothing and expect the county to pay for improvements.”

The board also debated the meaning of a retailer’s “regional draw,” one of the main arguments neighborhood associations have brought up.

Williams said that according to industry definitions, a regional shopping center contains 800,000 square feet. Gray’s Creek, however, measures the regional appeal by the number of miles customers would drive in order to shop at the proposed Wal-Mart store, saying the improvements of 800 feet to 1,000 feet mandated by the board Thursday will not alleviate traffic traveling on miles of rural roads Houston Levee and Macon.

In summary, LUCB chair Margaret Pritchard said Wal-Mart has “bent over backwards” to address the concerns of the county and neighbors.

After the vote, Wal-Mart spokesman Dennis Alpert said the company is “thrilled with the outcome,” admitting it was surprising in light of the hurdles the retailer has faced since first proposing a store on the site late last year.

“It reflects the hard work and sincere effort to communicate with the neighbors and the government,” he said.

Now, there are 10 days for any party wishing to appeal the approval, Saliba said. It will take six to eight weeks before the application comes before the Shelby County Commission.

Jimmy Reed of the Gray’s Creek Association said after the meeting that opposing groups will appeal the decision within 10 days. The 316,000 square feet previously approved for commercial development is not a sufficient argument, in his opinion.

“Lots of things have been done in the past in a poor fashion,” he said. “That much density possibly was flawed.”

He said the community should work to “tighten and improve” the process, especially in light of the county’s recent move toward sustainability.

10 years from now, Reed might be agreeable to the supercenter, but right now the area’s rural roads, combined with existing traffic and the schools and neighborhoods around it, do not support it.

Based in Bentonville, Ark., Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) is the world’s largest public company, according to Fortune 500, and its largest retailer.