NORTH CAROLINA SITE FIGHT: GETTING A MAKEOVER
Wal-Mart’s makeover [Rock Hill (N.C.) Herald]
The Tega Cay Wal-Mart few people wanted is setting the trend for Stonecrest, whose shops in front of the supercenter will mirror the Wal-Mart’s village design.
“The town council wanted it to look and feel like a little town,” said Scott Hallihan, managing partner for Stonecrest’s developer. “We took Wal-Mart’s design and made our buildings synergistic with theirs. Pedestrian-oriented. Wide sidewalks, fountains, plants.”
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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Monday, July 16 | 0 comments | Permalink
Independent America: Life Without the Big Box
In 2005, two reporters set out to drive across America in search of Mom-and-Pop stores. Unlike those who have gone before them, this dynamic duo avoided Wal-Marts, chain hotels and side-of-the-road fast food joints in hopes of gaining a better understanding of how Small Town America is reacting to changing economic situations, and what people are doing about it.
From YouTube:
Visit http://www.independentamerica.net/ for more, and be sure to catch the movie on the Sundance Channel on July 30th.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, July 16 | 0 comments | Permalink
NEW JERSEY SNAKE SITE FIGHT: WAL-MART WILLING TO RELOCATE REPTILE TO BUILD STORE
Wal-Mart willing to relocate reptile to build store [Asbury Park (N.J.) Press]
TOMS RIVER — A pine snake may not stop a Wal-Mart Supercenter from coming here after all.
Last June, the state Department of Environmental Protection denied a permit to the retail giant to build a 228,000-square-foot store on Route 37 on the boundary with Manchester.
A Coastal Area Facility Review Act, or CAFRA, permit was denied after a male northern pine snake was determined to have spent the winter in a den on the property and the site was deemed to be a pine snake habitat.
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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Thursday, July 12 | 0 comments | Permalink
SOUTH CAROLINA SITE FIGHT: GROUP DROPS SUIT
Neighborhood Group Drops Wal-Mart-Related Suits [WYFF-TV (Greenville, S.C.)]
GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C.—Some folks living along Pelham Road have dropped their against two state departments to try to stop “big box” stores from being built in the area.
The neighborhood group is called the Pelham Corridor Property Owners’ Alliance. The group filed the suits last year against the Department of Transportation and the Department of Health and Environmental Control. They were specifically trying to stop a developer’s plan to build a Wal-Mart store off Pelham Road and Boiling Springs Road.
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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Wednesday, July 11 | 0 comments | Permalink
Cayce, SC. City Wants “Better Class” of Big Box Stores
The city of Cayce, South Carolina, which lies along the Congaree River, includes the site of one of the earliest European settlements in what was then known as the “back country.” Cayce also contains the site of Fort Granby, where several important Revolutionary War battles were fought. Today, Cayce is the home of more than 12,100 people. “Linked to the interstate system at multiple points,” according to the city’s website, “and adjacent to the international airport, Cayce offers quick access to jobs, shopping, entertainment and the world.” Because of Cayce’s convenient location, city officials were worried that big box stores would eventually come there too. According to The Sun News, Cayce has voted to take some very small steps to regulate big boxes. Cayce has amended city zoning aimed at retailers such as Wal-Mart superstores, Target, Kohl’s, Sam’s Club and others. “We are not trying to restrict them from coming into the city,” said the city’s planning and development director. “We are trying to get a better class of development.” The City Council recently voted unanimously to add additional regulations on retail stores with more than 90,000 s.f. and any group of buildings exceeding 175,000 s.f. The ordinance gives the community more say over project aesthetics, like landscaping and lighting. The city’s planning commission spent months discussing the impact future retail development could have on residential and commercial areas. A Wal-Mart spokesman told The Sun News that the retailer is designing stores to fit in with the surrounding community. “We are following along with what already exists in communities.
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Posted by Al Norman on Monday, July 09 | 0 comments | Permalink
Nashville, NC. Town Builds A Welfare Road To Wal-Mart
Imagine a world where taxpayers in every small town build new roads to every business that wants one. That’s the world Wal-Mart inhabits—a world where public subsidies literally carry people to their front door. The tiny town of Nashville, North Carolina is only 3 square miles, and has a population of just 4,501 residents. It has 38 retail stores, including 5 grocery stores, 3 general merchandise stores, and 10 gas stations. The town calls itself the “original” Nashville. It’s the county seat of Nash County. It’s also the site of a new Wal-Mart supercenter. The road to that Wal-Mart supercenter is being built with public welfare. The world’s richest retailer just can’t get enough of that good,old corporate welfare.
Somehow Wal-Mart convinces local officials that unless they put out the cash to build a road, or lay down water and sewer pipes, that the giant retailer just won’t be able to locate in their city or town. Officials fall over themselves to put Wal-Mart on the dole, giving the corporation millions of dollars in tax supported infrastructure. These subsidies, which are not offered to smaller merchants, help Wal-Mart bury the competition. According to the Rocky Mount Telegram, town officials in Nashville are building a 5 lane road “to provide access to Wal-Mart” on Eastern Avenue. The supercenter will be located next to the State Employees’ Credit Union near the Nashville Commons Shopping Center. Town Manager Preston Mitchell said the new road will be named EastPointe Avenue. Land preparation for the project began about a month ago. Mitchell told the newspaper that Wal-Mart will retain local sales tax in the Nashville economy, as opposed to it being spent outside the area. The supercenter will be 153,430 s.f. and include a garden center. The store is expected to be finished by April of 2008. It takes about nine months to finish a supercenter once building starts, Mitchell said.
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Posted by Al Norman on Monday, July 09 | 0 comments | Permalink
MD Law Encourages Big Box Stores To Go Solar
Among the 191 new state laws that take effect in the state of Maryland today, the effects of one may not be seen for a few years. Make no mistake, however. Its sponsor believes the law could serve as a national model and could reduce the cost of electricity, as traditional energy sources such as coal and natural gas become more expensive.
Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed Senate Bill 595, which modifies the state’s renewable energy requirement to include a minimum percentage of solar power, starting at 0.005 percent of retail electricity sales in 2008 and increasing to 2 percent of electricity sales by 2022. The law is designed to encourage the use of solar panels by big box stores such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot.
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Posted by Corey Himrod on Monday, July 02 | 5 comments | Permalink
Waxhaw, NC. Second Wal-Mart Battle Now in Fifth Year
On January 10, 2007, Sprawl-Busters reported that the Union County, North Carolina Board of Commissioners had rejected the Conditional Use Permit for a 196,000 s.f. Wal-Mart superstore in the town of Waxhaw. After Wal-Mart applied, a change was made in the zoning to limit retail buildings in Waxhaw to 62,500 sq. ft. The decision to reject Wal-Mart was by a unanimous 5-0 vote. The Charlotte Observer said the vote ended the “bitter debate over whether the retailer would shatter Waxhaw’s identity as a small-town enclave of antique stores and horseback-supply shops.” Wal-Mart responded to their loss by suggesting that they would simply look for another site in the area, but that they were not considering any other sites with Waxhaw. The parcel they chose on Route 16 was just half a mile north of the quaint Waxhaw downtown. The Commissioners said that the store was not compatible with the character of the surrounding area.
Yet this week, Sprawl-Busters received an email from residents in Waxhaw about another long-standing Wal-Mart battle. According to residents, “We have been fighting Wal-Mart for over 5 years. The potential Wal-Mart would be a 24-hour SuperCenter within 50 feet of a residential neighborhood, and would have a direct access road from the Wal-Mart SuperCenter into a residential neighborhood.” The email was followed by a 5 year chronology of their fight with the world’s largest retailer: “Wal-Mart bought property at the corner of Rea Road and Tom Short Road in Waxhaw in 2001. In the spring of 2002, Wal-Mart filed site plans and a permit application for a 200,000+ sq. ft. supercenter with gas station and several outparcels. There is one Wal-Mart within 7 miles of Waxhaw and another one under construction within 5 miles of Waxhaw. The road from the Wal-Mart parking lot would pass by the neighborhood playground putting children and their families at an extreme safety risk.
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Posted by Al Norman on Monday, July 02 | 0 comments | Permalink
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