Ontario, CA. Residents Appeal Supercenter Decision

Appeal filed to stop Wal-Mart [San Bernadino County Sun]

There was little shock Friday afternoon when city officials learned the Planning Commission’s Aug. 30 decision to allow a Wal-Mart Supercenter in the city had been appealed.

“I heard it was delivered,” Mayor Paul Leon said of the appeal. “And the Mountain Village Association is within their rights.”

After about six hours of public comments - and years of vocal opposition by segments of the community - the commission approved a Supercenter at Fifth Street and Mountain Avenue.

The appeal was filed by San Diego-based Briggs Law Corporation, which is led by attorney Cory Briggs.

Briggs - whose aunt and uncle Kathy and Richard Briggs of Ontario launched www.stopwalmartontario.com - is no rookie at going head to head with the corporate giant.

In 2004, for instance, Briggs’ firm kept Victorville from approving a Wal-Mart without preparing an environmental impact report.

Briggs blocked a Supercenter in Rosemead for years due to inadequacies in its EIR.

Calls to Briggs Law about the basis for the appeal in Ontario went unanswered late Friday.

A Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spokesperson said late Friday she was not yet familiar with the appeal and therefore could not comment.

Richard Briggs said he had not yet read the appeal but believed his and other residents’ comments had simply been dismissed by the Planning Commission.

“The residents of northwest Ontario didn’t get a fair hearing,” Richard Briggs said. “Our concerns were termed `whining,’ while the word of biased experts hired by the city was taken as gospel.

“We wanted to take this to a higher authority,” he said.

The City Council will proceed over the appeal hearings at a future meeting - something city officials had said they expected whether the project was approved or denied.

“It’s not a surprising move to me at all,” Leon said.

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, September 10, 2007

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