CALIFORNIA SITE FIGHTS: PURSUING LAND AND A SUPERFIGHT

Super Fight over Suisun Super Wal-Mart [News10.net - (Sacramento, Calif.)]

A citizens group opposed to a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter in Suisun City presented documents Thursday that they say indicate the store, if built, could jeopardize the future of Travis Air Force base.

“We are adamantly opposed to the encroachment on Travis,” said Dwight Acey of Suisun Citizens League. Acey and a half dozen other residents were on hand for a news conference where they released a internal e-mail written by John Foster, chairman of the Airport Land Use Commission.

In that memo, Foster raised concerns that the Wal-Mart Supercenter, which is in the flight path to Travis Air Force Base, would be crowded with shoppers, setting the stage for a disaster should a plane crash on approach to the airfield.

“We agreed that this parcel would be subject to the Travis LUP (land use provisions), with a maximum of 300 people per acre permitted,” Foster wrote. “It would seem clear that a Wal-Mart at this location would easily exceed this limit.”

Foster continued, “This Wal-Mart location is gaining momentum, and it concerns me.”

The Supercenter is proposed for the corner on Walters Road and Highway 12 and, if built, would become the largest retailer in Suisun City. Wal-Mart has already gained approval to build another Supercenter about three miles away in Fairfield, though litigation has halted that project.

Suisun City officials, who say that 70 percent of their residents go outside Suisun City to shop, believe the Wal-Mart would provide a big boost to the local tax base.

“We need this economically, we all know that,” said Heather McCollister, Community Development Director for Suisun City.

But she added the city at this point is taking a neutral stance as it prepares to release a draft environmental report on the proposed project. “We’re not for or against the project as far as environmental concerns or planning.”

Travis Air Force Base with 14,000 workers is the area’s biggest employer, pumping about one billion dollars annually into the local economy. In a prepared statement, Travis commanders said there are no specific concerns at this point regarding the Wal-Mart proposal, but they added they may have more comments after the environmental report is issued, probably in late July.

Wal-Mart had no comment on the controversy Thursday, but in the past has launched large scale public relations campaigns when similar projects in other cities came under fire.

Opponents in Suisun say bring on the fight. “They’re not going to stand idly by while Wal-Mart comes and rapes our community,” said Acey. “They got a fight on their hands and I think they’d be better if they just moved on.”

Posted by Beth Gostanian on Friday, June 15, 2007

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