CALIFORNIA SITE FIGHT: WAL-MART DRAFT EIR IS OUT

Wal-Mart draft EIR is out [Orange County (Calif.) Register]

GARDEN GROVE - A much-awaited draft environmental impact report on the proposed two-story, 170,000 square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter at the corner of Brookhurst Street and Chapman Avenue is now available for public view.

The report, which is available at City Hall and on the city’s Web site, http://www.ci.garden-grove.ca.us, states that the project would have no significant impact on the community’s general environment or air quality.

The report became available for public review June 15 and will be available through July 31.

The project has already drawn criticism from national anti-Wal-Mart groups as well as local merchants on Main Street, who fear that the Supercenter would put them out of business.

City officials say Supercenters typically add up to 450 new full-time jobs to a region in addition to generating more than $500,000 a year in tax revenues, luring shoppers with a one-stop concept and 116,000 grocery and general merchandise items compared with traditional grocers who usually have about 47,000 items.

The city will host a July 19 public hearing before the Planning Commission at the Community Meeting Center. The public is also invited to send in their comments about the report by phone, e-mail or letters. The project could go before the Planning Commission in late September.

Posted by Beth Gostanian on Tuesday, June 26, 2007

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