FLORIDA SITE FIGHT: MAYOR POSTPONES ZONING HEARING

Daytona mayor tables Wal-Mart rezoning issue [Daytona Beach News-Journal]

A citizens group’s concerns about the effects of a proposed new Wal-Mart Supercenter in their neighborhood have led Mayor Glenn Ritchey and city officials to postpone final rezoning approval for the store, the mayor said Friday.

The issue was to go before the City Commission on Wednesday, but Ritchey said after meeting with members of the recently formed Kingston Community Group, city officials want to make sure the neighboring residents’ concerns are addressed before the commission considers final approval.

“We agreed to table it until November,” Ritchey said. “This gives us the opportunity to initiate and explore possibilities that are beneficial to all concerned.”

Wal-Mart wants to build the new store on Nova Road between Madison and Mason avenues, the current site of Father Lopez Catholic High School.

Kingston Community Group members have complained that the new Supercenter next door could cause numerous problems, including increased crime, noise and traffic, and could lead to more drainage problems in area already prone to flooding.

The Kingston group issued a news release this week saying city employees made “numerous critical errors” while preparing a staff report on the project, including mis-classifying future residential land use as retail and saying Wal-Mart could remove as many trees as it wanted.

Group members said it filed an appeal with the city over its handling of the proposal and said the appeal should force the city to delay the vote.

Ritchey said Friday he’s not sure of the “viability of the appeal process,” as described by the group, but he did say he, City Manager Jim Chisholm, Planning Board Chairwoman Edith Shelley and Cheryl Harrison-Lee, the city’s chief administrative officer, met with members Thursday.

He said the Kingston members complained they had been unable to meet with Wal-Mart officials in several months to discuss their concerns. Ritchey said the city will work with both sides to find a compromise both will be happy with.

Emma Rogers, chairwoman of the Kingston group, said she’s glad the city’s decision was postponed.

“It is more than I expected,” Rogers said. “I was just hoping that we would not have to go on the (Sept.) 5th, but I never thought it would go until November.”

City officials have said that because Wal-Mart is using a planned commercial development option to build the Supercenter, they don’t have to abide by the city’s codes and regulations. However, the Planning Board and City Commission, before approving the project, can require changes in areas that don’t meet the regulations.

Most of the land Wal-Mart wants to build on already is zoned commercial, but some parcels are residential. Wal-Mart is requesting those be rezoned to allow the project.

The Planning Board already has approved the rezoning, and commissioners were to consider final approval Wednesday.

While some Kingston residents have said they think it’s a foregone conclusion that Wal-Mart will be their new neighbor, Rogers said she’s not ready to throw in the towel.

“Not really. I still have hope. I don’t lose my hope,” she said.