Spooner, WI. Concerned Citizens Speak to City Council
Wal-Mart referendum proposed [Washburn County Register (Wisc.)]
The recent news of Wal-Mart continuing its plans to build a store in Spooner, after months of speculation the company had backed out, brought concerned citizens to the Spooner City Council meeting Tuesday, May 6, in city hall.
During public comment, Larry Colby, Spooner, spoke first. He said that, in light of a developer’s agreement possibly being passed by the city soon, that he had some concerns a Wal-Mart might not bring in the revenue expected, among other things. Colby said he wanted the city to make the best deal possible, and had found a developer’s agreement between the city of Monona and Wal-Mart, when a store went into the town, that outlines conditions fully for the developer’s responsibilities. Colby said this agreement was a good example of what the city should follow when working with Wal-Mart. There were detailed conditions for the traffic impact, storm water control, municipal services, charitable activity and elderly transit contribution. Colby gave the council copies of the agreement and asked they make sure they get the right information from Wal-Mart.
Incidentally, Wal-Mart’s public affairs representative Lisa Nelson was on the Monona City Council from 1998-2006.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Thursday, May 15 | 0 comments | Permalink
Muskego, WI. “We should cast a wider net”
Public will have say on Wal-Mart Supercenter plan [Muskego Now (Wisc.)]
Though the Muskego Plan Commission liked the plans presented for a Wal-Mart Supercenter on May 6, no action was taken pending a public hearing on the proposal and some tweaking of the design by the giant retailer.
Muskego Plan Director Jeff Muenkel said it was likely the hearing would be scheduled at the June 3 commission meeting. Commissioners had some concerns about the rear façade of the building.
New Wal-Mart prototypeThough the architect for the project, Richard Hayes, described the proposed building as a trendsetting design that future Wal-Marts will be patterned after, commissioners worried the back of the building could be a problem for the residential neighborhood to the east.
The Wal-Mart Supercenter is planned for the east side of Moorland Road, south of College Avenue. Objections were raised about the possibility of noise from trucks or air-conditioning equipment, landscape screening and the straight lines of the rear architecture.
“It looks like the back of a big-box store,” commissioner Russ Stinebaugh said, adding he would like to see updated plans from Wal-Mart before any approvals are granted. “We hope it will go up and not be objectionable to neighbors, but I’d like to know that for sure.”
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Thursday, May 15 | 0 comments | Permalink
Spooner,WI. Wal-Mart Is Back, But Headed Towards A Referendum?
Spooner, Wisconsin likes to call itself “the perfect Up North town.” “We are surrounded by woods, lakes, rivers and friendly people,” the city’s website says. “With a population of around 2700, Spooner is perfect for a family vacation, a fishing expedition, a permanent residence or a second home.” But local residents worry that Spooner will be surrounded by more than just “woods, lakes, rivers and friendly people” if Wal-Mart gets its way.
On January 18, 2008, Sprawl-Busters reported that a controversial Wal-Mart supercenter project in Spooner, Wisconsin was on hold. “There is nothing yet to report on the status of the project on Spooner,” a Wal-Mart senior manager of public affairs said in an e-mail to Spooner Mayor Louie Villella. “While no decision has been made regarding the Spooner project, I feel it’s important you know what’s driving these decisions, and that you know these decisions are shaped by Wal-Mart’s desire for a responsible and managed growth strategy. Again, there is nothing yet to report on the status of the project in Spooner, but my colleagues at Wal-Mart’s headquarters in Bentonville expect this project to be reviewed in the coming weeks. I will of course keep you informed.” Wal-Mart admitted that the Spooner Supercenter was in a “holding pattern” while the company tried to “manage our growth to insure the long-term success.”
After roughly four months in limbo, Wal-Mart announced in April that under new “business parameters,” the supercenter project would proceed---on a smaller scale than originally proposed, according to the Spooner Advocate newspaper.
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Posted by Al Norman on Thursday, May 15 | 0 comments | Permalink
West Dundee, IL. Residents Unite Against Wal-Mart
Residents unite to fight planned West Dundee Wal-Mart plan [Daily Herald (Ill.)]
A group opposing a proposed Wal-Mart SuperCenter in West Dundee wants the world’s largest retailer to know that its bright yellow smiley face is not welcome in the town.
Dundee Neighbors, a coalition of residents and businesses, says the development slated for the 27.5-acre lot at Huntley Road and Elm Avenue is wrong for West Dundee.
At least a half dozen Dundee Neighbors members spoke during the rescheduled public hearing Monday night at Randall Oaks Golf Club.
More than 175 people attended the hearing at which Wal-Mart spent about 90 minutes petitioning for a number of site variances.
Village officials estimated about 30 people addressed the commission and Wal-Mart representatives, pushing the meeting until 12:30 a.m. Tuesday.
“They just wanted a chance to convey their concerns to commissions,” said Brian O’Connor, an attorney representing the neighbors group. “This establishes a record so that the commission can make an accurate finding of facts and take that back to the village board.”
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Wednesday, May 14 | 0 comments | Permalink
West Dundee, IL. Residents Challenge Wal-Mart Plan
West Dundee residents challenge Wal-Mart plan [The Courier News (Ill.)]
Eight years ago, residents in the Tartans Glen subdivision showed up at public hearings en masse to protest a proposed Meijer store at Huntley and Elm roads.
Although it was approved by the village board, Meijer ultimately dropped plans for that store. Now, some of those same residents are voicing similar objections to a proposed 24-hour Super Wal-Mart at the same location.
This week, Wal-Mart officials made their case to the West Dundee Planning Commission for a planned unit development on 30 acres just north of Spring Hill Mall. The property would be leased from General Growth Properties Inc., the real estate investment trust that operates Spring Hill Mall.
The presentation was during a public hearing, and residents packed into the meeting room at Randall Oaks Golf Course to lodge their objections to and concerns with the plan.
Many residents said they were concerned that additional traffic would further impact Huntley Road, and that traffic would cut through on Tartans Drive to avoid the backups already seen on Huntley Road and Illinois 72.
Other residents questioned if the noise generated by trucks would be heard in their neighborhoods, or if light would “bleed” from the store and parking lot to their yards and windows.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Wednesday, May 14 | 0 comments | Permalink
Bellevue, WI. Wal-Mart Pulls Out of 60th Community
In January 26, 2008, Sprawl-Busters reported that the small community of Bellevue, Wisconsin had a big decision to make. This village of roughly 14,600 people just south of Green Bay, had a Wal-Mart supercenter thrown in its lap. The village, whose motto is “A Great Place To Grow,” had to decide if growth means putting a Wal-Mart supercenter in its new business park. As it turns out less than four months later, the decision was not in their hands anyway. In February, local residents jammed into the Village board room to express their concern and dismay over the proposed Wal-Mart store.
Every single resident who testified on the plan, opposed it. Some residents told Wal-Mart that instead of building a new superstore, they should go back and renovate their existing discount store on Main Street in Green Bay, which is roughly 3.5 miles from Bellevue. There are three Wal-Marts within 10 miles of Bellevue, Wisconsin, including two superstores in Green Bay and De Pere, Wisconsin.
The Village Board held their meeting on February 13th, and voted unanimously to approve Wal-Mart’s planned development district---once again in the face of strong citizen opposition. Village President Craig Beyl abstained from the vote, because he works at a competing grocery store. One Village Trustee said the Wal-Mart decision had to be made on facts, not emotion. “We have to go by our ordinances, not on emotion,” said Trustee Jill Bielinksi. “Public opinion is not reason enough to deny this. (Wal-Mart has) done what we’ve asked for over and above.” And Trustee Dave Kaster was even more blunt: “To say we voted down Wal-Mart because Wal-Mart sucks, that works on the playground, but it doesn’t work here.” Three months after that statement, Wal-Mart decided that it would not work for them to locate in Bellevue.
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Posted by Al Norman on Tuesday, May 13 | 0 comments | Permalink
Chicago, IL. Residents Discuss Aborted Wal-Mart
Council should OK Wal-Mart in Chatham [Chicago Sun-Times]
Rosetta Prince gets giddy when she talks about shopping at Wal-Mart: “It’s just nice, and they have a variety of things. I love Wal-Mart,” Prince practically sings. “I would love to have one in this neighborhood.”
Prince, a 60-year-old nursing assistant, lives in the South Side middle-class enclave of Chatham. As she wheels a shopping cart from Lowe’s on West 83rd, she walks within yards of a grim, empty expanse of land on which a Wal-Mart Supercenter should be.
But Wal-Mart won’t be coming to Chatham. In a classic case of short-sighted politics getting in the way of people and progress, City Hall would rather turn up its nose at nearly 650 badly needed jobs, plus taxes, affordable merchandise and groceries.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, May 12 | 0 comments | Permalink
Copley, Ohio. Residents Organize to Block Wal-Mart Superstore Move
Residents in the Montrose-area of Fairlawn, Ohio has been stewing for weeks over what might happen to them across the road in Copley, Ohio. In late April Fairlawn residents met to talk over a rumored Wal-Mart superstore on vacant land on Rothrock Road.
The Mayor of Fairlawn, Bill Roth, suggested to homeowners who live in the Rosemont Ridge, Enclave, Rothrock Place and Copley Place subdivisions, that they might have to take action to turn their roads into cul-de-sacs—a sort of ‘circle the wagons’ approach to keep cars from cutting through their streets on the way to chinese imports.
The commercially zoned land is located just over the Fairlawn border in Copley Township. The superstore will cause the existing Wal-Mart discount store one mile away to go dark. That store is 110,000 s.f.---the size of some of Wal-Mart’s smaller superstore formats. The Mayor quoted the developer as saying in late April that he is planning a big box store, but would not identify which store it was. ‘’The scary part,” Mayor Roth was quoted as saying by the Akron Beacon Journal, “is we know that sooner or later (this land) is going to be developed, and since it’s outside Fairlawn we have no control over what goes on.’’
Copley Township Trustee Dale Panovich said the developer had only submitted an aerial photo to the township as of late April. ‘’It is not a site plan,’’ she said. ‘’That is all Copley Township has at this point.’’ Roth admitted that his preference is to have Wal-Mart expand its Fairlawn store at the Rosemont shopping center on West Market Street. The owner of the current Wal-Mart site has encouraged them to expand on site. “They are being very closemouthed otherwise,” he told the Akron Leader. ‘’They have the room if they want to do it,’’ Mayor Roth said. ‘’They acknowledge that they could expand and stay on the site. And they acknowledge there is great traffic (for commerce) on West Market Street.’’ The Sam’s Club at Rosemont Commons will stay where it is.
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Posted by Al Norman on Monday, May 12 | 0 comments | Permalink
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