COUNCIL POSTPONES WAL-MART VOTE AFTER HEATED DEBATE IN TRACY, CA

UPDATE: Wal-Mart vote postponed [Tracy Press (Calif.)]

The City Council decided late Tuesday night that a vote regarding an expanded Wal-Mart could wait until a meeting Aug. 5.

After hearing extended testimony from supporters and the opponents of a controversial plan to allow Wal-Mart to turn its existing Grant Line Road enterprise into a Supercenter, the council decided to send the matter back to staff.

The specific matter before the council Tuesday was to approve or dismiss an environmental impact report that would pave the way for Wal-Mart to add 82,000 square feet of space to reach a total of 208,000 square feet, 30,000 square feet of which would be devoted to groceries. A standing-room only crowd watched and weighed in on the perceived wisdom of the move.

Opponents in Tuesday’s debate argued that a bigger Wal-Mart would kill other grocers and add a surge of traffic to intersections already struggling with too many cars and trucks.

Supporters of Wal-Mart by the dozens wore blue “Wal-Mart” nametags on their shirts and implored the council to allow a Wal-Mart Supercenter, which they said would create jobs and save the people who shop there money.

Groups of attendees seemingly got into cheering contests backing speakers on their side of the argument.

Dave Thomas of a San Joaquin County building association got raucous applause when he said, “People sitting at home right now don’t know it, but people are going to lose their jobs, at Save Mart, at Safeway. Don’t believe Wal-Mart is a good corporate friend to anybody.”

But if proponents of Wal-Mart were at times out-cheered, they were hardly outnumbered and once dominated the room when one speaker asked for a show of hands of the big-box retailer’s
supporters.

Fans of Wal-Mart were unsympathetic to the possibility that a Save Mart might go under when a supercenter opens — a possibility raised by previous consultant reports to the city. They advocated for what they maintain is the chance to save money by shopping at a future discount retailer.

“We can’t afford not to have a supercenter here,” one woman said.

Posted by Joel Nezianya on Wednesday, July 02, 2008

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