California Site Fight: Wal-Mart Development Faces Lawsuit

Lawsuit challenges Perris Marketplace project [The Press-Enterprise (California)]

An environmentalist group is going to court to force developers of a Perris shopping center to do a thorough analysis of its greenhouse gas emissions.

In a lawsuit filed last week in Riverside County Superior Court, the Center for Biological Diversity alleged the Perris Marketplace project doesn’t do enough to quantify and reduce the gases, which are blamed for global warming.

A 520,000-square-foot project west of Perris Boulevard and north of Nuevo Road, Perris Marketplace is expected to feature a Wal-Mart Supercenter, a mega-store with a supermarket, a vision and hearing center, a photo center and gasoline pumps.

Trachman Indevco, the project’s Los Angeles-based developer, could not be reached for comment Monday. Perris City Manager Richard Belmudez and Michael McDermott, the city’s redevelopment and economic development manager, also could not be reached Monday.

Mayor Daryl Busch declined to comment, saying he had not seen the lawsuit.

Matt Vespa, staff attorney for the Tucson, Ariz.-based environmental group, said the 250,000-square-foot supercenter doesn’t satisfy state requirements for the tracking and reduction of greenhouse gases.

He said greenhouse gas emissions are not analyzed in the environmental impact report for the project, which the Perris City Council certified last month. The California Environmental Quality Act requires the report.

The goal of the lawsuit isn’t to stop Perris Marketplace, Vespa said.

“It’s about looking at feasible options to lower greenhouse gases,” he said.

Ways the project could reduce greenhouse emissions include using roof solar panels for energy and fueling delivery trucks with biodiesel, Vespa said.

The marketplace is scheduled to break ground next year. It is one of several major shopping centers envisioned along the Interstate 215 corridor in Perris.

Others include the 600,000- square-foot Perris Towne Center, the 500,000-square-foot Perris Crossing and the 700,000- square-foot Venue at Perris.

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Thursday, August 16, 2007

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