Community Impact Assessment Legislation Nears Passage in Maine

Last week, the Maine House of Representatives passed LD 1810, the Informed Growth Act, by a vote of 82-49. This legislation would highlight the true costs of big box development and provide communities with the tools and information to create and sustain vibrant, just, and sustainable local economies.

The legislation has been championed by the Maine Fair Trade Campaign, with the goal of providing cities and towns better tools with which to evaluate the full range of benefits and costs associated with large-scale retail development. It would allow retail development decisions to be made using objective information on how the development would impact things such as existing small business, employment and the cost of public services.

The Maine Senate is expected to vote on the legislation this week.

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Posted by Corey Himrod on Monday, June 11 | 10 comments | Permalink

MARYLAND SITE FIGHT: RESIDENTS RAISE CONCERNS

Wal-Mart expansion creates traffic concerns [The Capital (Md.)]

Wal-Mart wants to expand its store in Laurel by more than a third, a move that has Russett residents concerned the retailer will complicate traffic patterns.
Residents say they have expected the store to grow in size, but since it opened in 1994, nearby roads have become busier than ever before.

Wal-Mart wants to add another 40,000 square feet to its 115,000 square-foot-store, improve the facade, lighting and store interior, said Rhoda Washington, a spokesman for the Arkansas-based retailer.

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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Monday, June 11 | 0 comments | Permalink

SOUTH CAROLINA SITE FIGHT: RILED RESIDENTS

Incoming Wal-Mart Supercenter riles residents [Myrtle Beach Sun-News]

A Wal-Mart Supercenter at the Garden City Beach Connector and U.S. 17 Business plans to open in fall 2008, company officials said Wednesday, and the project is already facing some opposition from residents.

The company submitted plans to the Horry County planning department in April. Those plans didn’t ask for variances, which could require the OK from a county board, so the project only needs the county’s staff approval. That process could take several months, according to county planners.

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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Thursday, June 07 | 0 comments | Permalink

NEW JERSEY SITE FIGHT: MAYOR AND SLATE HOLD RALLY AGAINST WAL-MART

Mayor and slate hold rally against Wal-Mart [Edison/Metuchen (N.J.) Sentinel]

EDISON - In an attempt to thwart the inevitable, Mayor Jun Choi called in support from local unions and Edison residents on May 31 to rally against the building of a Wal-Mart store on Vineyard Road.

“It’s about telling Wal-Mart that they are not welcome here and setting a precedent for the next project,” said Evan Stavisky, a campaign strategist for Mayor Choi’s slate of council candidates.

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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Wednesday, June 06 | 0 comments | Permalink

Trenton, NJ. Court Gives Wal-Mart Its 9th. Class Action “Off the Clock” Case

Wal-Mart is suffering from a corporate illness that even its $4 prescriptions can’t cure: Litigation Fatigue. In its recently-released 2007 Annual Report, Wal-Mart devotes two entire pages of 10-point type to the subject of “Litigation.” The giant retailer has become a giant target of legal actions against it. “The company is a defendant in numerous cases containing class action allegations,” the company admits, “in which the plaintiffs are current and former hourly associates who allege that the company forced them to work ‘off the clock’ or failed to provide work breaks, or otherwise that they were not paid for worked performed.” In most of these cases, class action status is still under consideration by the courts. Wal-Mart says that in 14 cases, class action certification has been denied, but in 8 cases it has been approved in full or in part. In all, there are roughly 30 such lawsuits currently pending. These cases are like a financial sword hanging over shareholders. “The Company cannot reasonably estimate the possible loss or range of loss which may arise from these lawsuits,” Wal-Mart warns. Just before Christmas of 2005, Wal-Mart was fined $172 million in one of these cases in California, and the retailer has now appealed that verdict. In October of 2006, Wal-Mart lost a similar case in Pennsylvania, setting the company back by $78 million. The largest class action lawsuit now pending, Dukes v Wal-Mart, began six years ago, is a gender discrimination suit that covers 1.6 million women workers. Wal-Mart appealed the class certification in the Dukes case, lost, and at the end of February, 2007, filed a motion to reconsider. In a classic understatement, Wal-Mart warns its shareholders that if it loses or settles in the Dukes case, “the resulting liability could be material to the company.” Yesterday, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that another off-the-clock lawsuit could proceed as a class action on behalf of roughly 80,000 current and former Wal-Mart employees. The attorney for the plaintiffs, Judith L. Spanier, said the New Jersey case was similar to the Pennsylvania case noted above. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled 5-1 against Wal-Mart, which means that this case can proceed as one action, rather than thousands of separate lawsuits. “By allowing this manageable litigation to proceed, we permit a class of hourly, retail employees to unite and — on an equal footing with their adversary — to seek relief for their ‘small claims,’ ” the court ruled. As a class action case, Wal-Mart financial risk is much greater, as opposed to facing individual cases, many of which would never come to trial. The New Jersey case covers all hourly employees who worked for Wal-Mart stores in New Jersey since May 30, 1996. According to the decision written by Chief Justice James R. Zazzali, “The core of the present dispute is whether Wal-Mart engaged in a systematic and widespread practice of disregarding its contractual, statutory and regulatory obligations to hourly employees in this state by refusing to provide earned rest and meal breaks and by encouraging off-the-clock work.” Wal-Mart issued its standard reply in such cases: “We’ve always maintained that it is our policy to pay every associate for every hour they have worked.” But the plaintiffs charge that, in fact, Wal-Mart forced its workers to work hours without pay, and to skip required rest breaks. The court noted that many of the low-wage workers might remain silent because of “legitimate fears concerning employer retaliation, lack of resources, or a sense of powerlessness when confronting their would-be corporate adversary…We cannot ignore the reality that if the proposed class is not certified, thousands of aggrieved employees will not seek redress for defendant’s alleged wrongdoing.”

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Posted by Al Norman on Tuesday, June 05 | 0 comments | Permalink

NORTH CAROLINA SITE FIGHT: PROTESTING WAL-MART IN DURHAM

Protesting Wal-Mart in Durham [News 14 Carolina - Raleigh, N.C.]

DURHAM—A Durham group is protesting a planned Wal-Mart store in their area.

The store would be moved in at South Roxboro Road and Martin Luther King Junior Parkway. The group is worried about the store’s possible impact on their area.

Protesting the Wal-Mart.
“Major traffic concern,” said Sarah Lamm in regards to why she’s worried about a Wal-Mart. “Also, just the clientele that will be moving into the neighborhood, as well as safety, the potential impact on public services based on the traffic flow and we just want to keep our neighborhood family friendly and dog friendly and we are very concerned about how that might potentially change with a Wal-Mart moving in.”

The group is collecting signatures for a petition, and plan to meet with the City Planning Commission.

Another protest is planned for June 16.

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Posted by Jason Korta on Monday, June 04 | 0 comments | Permalink

NEW JERSEY WMT WORKERS GRANTED CLASS ACTION STATUS

New Jersey High Court Hands Wal-Mart a Setback [New York Times]

In a setback for Wal-Mart, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a lawsuit claiming off-the-clock violations could proceed as a class action on behalf of nearly 80,000 current and former Wal-Mart employees.

Judith L. Spanier, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, applauded the decision, saying the case resembled a Pennsylvania class action in which a jury ordered Wal-Mart Stores to pay $78 million last October, after finding that managers had forced employees to work off the clock and miss many breaks.

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Posted by Jason Korta on Friday, June 01 | 0 comments | Permalink

Blacksburg, VA. Special Permit On Big Box Stores Passes Unanimously

Large scale retail projects in the town of Blacksburg, Virginia will face a lot more scrutiny because of a new zoning law passed yesterday. On May 14, 2007, Sprawl-Busters reported that the town of Blacksburg was going to vote on land use ordinance 1450, which would limit the size of retail buildings in town to 80,000 s.f. Larger buildings would require a special use permit issued by the town council. Jubilant residents tell Sprawl-Busters today that they have at least succeeded in getting their zoning law passed. “Last night, after a marathon 5-hour public hearing,” citizens wrote, “the Blacksburg Town Council passed, by a 7-0 vote, an ordinance that will require a special use permit for any retail over 80,000 square feet. A grassroots effort by Blacksburg United for Responsible Growth (BURG) brought in petitions with over 3,500 signatures. This was more than the total number of votes cast in the last, hotly contested, mayoral election. Speakers at the hearing in favor of the ordinance outnumbered those opposed by a ratio of 8 to 1. Almost all of the opposition to the ordinance came from individuals with a direct stake in a development on South Main Street that includes a Wal-Mart Supercenter. The ordinance gives us the breathing room we need to have the thorough study and public discussion of the best way of regulating big box development. We will be looking at ways to strengthen the protections of the new ordinance. In order to circumvent the new law and the will of the town’s residents, the developers of the South Main project have already sued the town. They have asked the circuit court to retroactively award them vested rights to build their supercenter. BURG is considering joining the case on the town’s side. We are elated at the unequivocal statement that the Town Council has made, but are still focused on winning the case and stopping this project that would be disastrous for the town.”