Muskego, WI. Residents Fight Back

Residents group fights Wal-Mart in Muskego [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Wisc.)]

A community group has organized to fight a proposal for a Wal-Mart Supercenter on the northern end of the city in advance of a Plan Commission meeting tonight, which will discuss whether the proposal meets the zoning requirements and the character of the area off Moorland Road just south of College Ave.

At a presentation for the community last week at Muskego High School, Wal-Mart officials said Muskego should look at the benefits of a store in the city: Other businesses watch where Wal-Mart goes and often want to build in the shadow of the corporate giant. People would spend their money in Muskego rather than in Wal-Marts outside the community. The biggest employer in the state would bring jobs to the community, pay taxes, and contribute to the area philanthropically.

But many people at the meeting and afterward questioned the amount of traffic the store would create on nearby College Ave. and Moorland Road. Others were wary of the store because they thought it would require more police protection and contribute to the downfall of local businesses.

Resident John Walters said he wanted to see a comprehensive environmental plan from Wal-Mart and another traffic study of the area performed by an independent third party.

So after the meeting, Walters and resident Janet Napientek decided to form Muskego First, a group that will seek financial support from local residents and businesses to hire a professional to help fight the Wal-Mart proposal.

Walters said that a land-use attorney could help them research the hidden costs the store would have on local taxpayers and other legal issues that may be overlooked by the company and the city, which is eager to develop the Moorland Road corridor as it heads south from I-43 and into Muskego.

“A lot of residents feel slighted that something so big got so far without us being asked about it or consulted (by our elected officials) - part of their job is to report back to us,” Walters said Wednesday before heading to City Hall and handing out packets of information he researched about the negative impact he says the retailer has had in Wisconsin.

Debate has played out in community after community, with mixed opinions about whether Wal-Mart harms locally owned businesses or spurs healthy competition and an improves the business climate.

Last month, Muskego’s Plan Commission responded to a petitioner-driven request to re-zone a portion of the property where Wal-Mart wants to build from a business district with a maximum building size of 20,000 square feet to a district that would allow for larger commercial structures.

According to the minutes from the April 1 meeting, the commissioners said they didn’t want the east side of Moorland Road across from what would become the GE distribution center to become a strip mall with lots of little stores.

The minutes also say that “future uses along with a site plan for the area is in place and will be coming forward if the rezoning moves forward.”

Walters said he hopes the residents he and Napientek are gathering to come to tonight’s meeting will help at least help defer the approval of the Wal-Mart project.

But stopping a project that meets the zoning requirements and character of an area in which a petitioner wants to build may be difficult, said Ald. Noah Fiedler, who sits on the Plan Commission.

“A lot of people don’t like Wal-Mart for business reasons,” Fiedler said. “But that’s not the city’s concern. Our job is to determine whether the proposal fits the zoning and fits in with the look of that area. The name on the side of the building is irrelevant to the Plan Commission.”

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, May 06, 2008

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