MONTANA SITE FIGHT: ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS HALT WMT PLANS

Wal-Mart may be shopping for new location [Ravalli Republic (Mont.)]

Officials from the Wal-Mart corporation may be shopping for another building site other than their original proposed site north of Hamilton.

The corporation planned to construct a 150,000-square-foot store on 21 acres just north of Hamilton next to Donaldson Brothers Ready Mix Inc.

Plans to build at that site might be changing, according to Wal-Mart officials and their consultants.

In June, according to e-mail’s between Wal-Mart’s consultants and Montana Department of Environmental Quality officials, consultants for the corporation hinted that they may be looking at a different site.

“Brian Foy (Wal-Mart’s consultant) stated they are considering another site for the Wal-Mart (other than the Donaldson property,) but did not provide me with any information on the new site ... ,” DEQ’s Rachel Clark wrote.

Numerous consultants under contract with Wal-Mart, CLC Associates and Tetra Tech, said they could not breach confidentiality agreements and therefore couldn’t comment.

According to Wal-Mart spokesman, large projects like the Hamilton Wal-Mart can have “variables.”

“Right now, we are still in the process of examining the dynamics of the site to insure that it works best for us and the customers of Ravalli County,” Wal-Mart spokesman Josh Phair said. “Until we have finished the analysis of the site, I wouldn’t want to speculate as to what our moves are.”

Phair said that following the laws governing building projects is of utmost importance to the corporation and that “delays are typical for a project of this size.”

The corporation originally intended to break ground this spring, shortly after county voters repealed a large scale interim zoning ordinance limiting the size of big-box stores.

That deadline didn’t materialize.

So far, the corporation successfully landed a building permit in October and received a thumbs-up for a drinking water test well, though Wal-Mart has not submitted any drinking water or sewage treatment plans to DEQ.

Residents concerned about the effects the proposed store would have on the environment barraged DEQ officials asking for a full-blown Environmental Impact Study to be conducted. DEQ officials however, cited that the proposed store doesn’t warrant an EIS.

As for roads, the corporation hasn’t officially applied for any encroachment permits through the Montana Department of Transportation or the Ravalli County Road and Bridge Department.

The company’s original proposal outlined an entry and stoplight off of U.S. 93 and another road that would re-route traffic onto Orchard Drive - a residential road. Past public meetings on the topic of Wal-Mart’s proposed roads had citizens brewing with fury and discontent.

According to DEQ officials, the last time Wal-Mart’s consultants submitted anything for the store was in March.