MORE ON WAL-MART’S LAWSUIT IN KILBUCK, PA
Wal-Mart files suit in Route 65 landslide [Pittsburgh Business Times (Pa.)]
Nearly two years after the company’s plans for a Kilbuck store began to disappear in a landslide that closed down Route 65, Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has filed suit against the former developer of the one-time Dixmont State hospital.
On Friday, the big box discounter filed suit against nearly everyone involved in the failed development project, which Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) decided against pursuing last September after ongoing deliberations with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection led it to instead re-plant the site with trees and vegetation.
Named in the lawsuit is the main developer, locally based ASC Development Inc., its principals John Atwood and Atoine Chammas, as well as ASC’s affiliated firms, Kilbuck Properties, L.P. and Kilbuck Properties L.L.C., and a number of other companies also involved in the project, ACA Engineering, Inc., Chevy Chase Construction, Inc., Penn Development Services L.P. among others.
Allegations against the development team have yet to be filed with the court. The site is located in Kilbuck Township, north of Pittsburgh.
Atwood and Chammas, principals of ASC, are now listed as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer respectively at a company called Trinity Commercial Development Inc., according to the company’s website.
Posted by Joel Nezianya on Tuesday, August 12 | 0 comments | Permalink
North Tonawanda, NY. Zoning Board Clears Path For Wal-Mart
When it comes to Wal-Mart supercenters, there are no “done deals,” only “dumb deals.” On April 8, 2008, Sprawl-Busters reported that the Mayor of the city of North Tonawanda, New York was thrilled with the idea of a Wal-Mart supercenter---before he had even gathered any data on the potential impact of the store on his community. His city has lost about 9% of its population since 1990. As of 2006, the city had just under 32,000 people. The city also has 6 Wal-Mart stores within 19 miles, including a Wal-Mart discount store 3 miles away in Amherst, New York, and a supercenter 10 miles away in Clarence, New York. North Tonawanda is located midway between Buffalo and Niagara Falls, and is the second largest community in the County of Niagara. Historically, North Tonawanda was an important regional manufacturing center, but today, the city is focused on waterfront development, entertainment and tourism.
Add to that list: Wal-Mart. Although this community has ample access to cheap Chinese imports, Wal-Mart is still pressuring city officials to let them build a superstore. Only one thing stands in the way: local residents. The retailer’s first proposal did not go over well, so the corporation fell back and came up with a “Plan B.” In early March, 2008, Wal-Mart’s supercenter proposal ran into a Wal of opposition at a public hearing.
According to the Tonawanda News, at least 100 residents packed into the Grant Elementary School to protest the superstore. Although the chairman of the city’s Planning Commission told the audience that Wal-Mart was not the issue at hand, most people testifying made it clear that Wal-Mart was the problem. Most of the focus has been on the traffic problems that this store will create. Dave Seeger, a lawyer representing North Tonawanda First, the citizen’s group opposing Wal-Mart, challenged Wal-Mart’s typical assertion in its traffic “study” that a superstore would actually improve traffic in the area. “How does that happen?” Seeger asked the Planning Commission. “Answer: You cheat.” To counter North Tonawanda First, Wal-Mart cobbled together a “citizens” group called Lumber City Liaisons for Wal-Mart, which testified in favor of the plan. In April, the Wal-Mart project came before the Planning Commission. The city has hired the engineering firm Wendel Duchscherer to advise them on the project.
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Posted by Al Norman on Tuesday, August 12 | 0 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update For Elected Officials
Check out this week’s issue of the Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update for Elected Officials – a compilation of Wal-Mart news from across the country and beyond.
This week’s issue focuses again on Wal-Mart’s efforts to warn its managers across the country of a Democratic win in this November’s elections. The company has been holding mandatory meetings for its store managers and department supervisors (possibly in violation of state and federal election law), who are being warned that if Democrats win in November it could lead to potential store unionization. And speaking of unionization, read how Wal-Mart’s attempt to bust up unions in Canada has made it all the way to Canada’s Supreme Court, while on the other side of the globe all Wal-Mart stores in China will have labor contracts by September 2008.
In addition to the aforementioned stories, you’ll also find Bloomberg and the International Herald Tribune questioning whether a slowdown in Wal-mart sales could be a negative sign for the U.S. economy in the future. And on the environmental side of things, you’ll find the Christian Science Monitor among others discussing Wal-Mart’s opposition to carbon-offset guidelines, while the New York Times and Newsweek explain why concerns over keeping costs at low levels has lead Wal-Mart to drastically alter how its products are made and transported.
And finally, check out our “Stateside” and “Wal-Mart International” sections to find out what’s going on with Wal-Mart around the country and across the globe.
Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update for Elected Officials
Posted by Corey Himrod on Monday, August 11 | 24 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Sues Developer Over Landslide In Kilbuck and Moon, PA
On September 20, 2006, Sprawl-Busters reported that a Wal-Mart supercenter site had been buried in a landslide. Their proposed superstore project had to be cancelled, and Wal-Mart found itself covered in dirt and financial bills to stabilize the site. According to the Pittsburg Tribune-Review, Wal-Mart this week filed a lawsuit against the developer and other parties in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. “The goal is to seek reimbursement of funds Wal-Mart paid to stabilize the site and will continue to pay,” a Wal-Mart spokeswoman said.
“The defendants are real estate and engineering professionals who said the site was appropriate for our commercial development.” The landslide brought down 300,000 cubic yards of earth onto Route 65, closing off traffic for two weeks and disrupting train travel for days. The slide was so severe, Wal-Mart gave up plans to develop the property and instead had to spend money stabilizing the site. The parcel chosen by Wal-Mart had slide-prone geological conditions according to a report released by a state legislative panel that studied the site.
Wal-Mart is suing 14 defendents. “We’re disappointed that we were led to invest millions in a project we had to abandon,” the retailer said. “Our first priority is make sure the site is stabilized.” The Pittsburg Tribune-Review reports this week that as a result of this landslide, the state legislature is considering a bill that would require the Pennslyvania Department of Environmental Protection to approve excavation in geologically sensitive areas.
A task force issued a 130-page report recommending legislation to prevent similar incidents. The chair of the task force said he would file the legislation this month and predicted the
odds for its passage were excellent. The report says an apparent conflict of interest by Kilbuck’s former engineer was part of a broader concern about questionable oversight by the township. Part of the conflict of interest stems from the fact that engineering firm which prepared the traffic impact study for the developer, also approved changes to the
town’s grading ordinance that allowed the developer to work on the Wal-Mart project.
The head of a citizen’s group that opposed Wal-Mart, had warned the town of the dangers posed by the site. “Our community groups mentioned dozens of times that there was a conflict of interest but no one paid any attention” said Bob Keir, a co-chairman of Communities First!, which celebrated when the project was buried. Kilbuck officials said they
are “dealing with how to hold the hill up, how to make it safe, how does it look.”
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Posted by Al Norman on Monday, August 11 | 0 comments | Permalink
Penn Hills, PA. Wal-Mart’s Faith-Based Superstore
A church is developing a Wal-Mart project in Pennsylvania with the unlikely goal of helping small businesses in the area. You might call that blind faith.
On May 30, 2007, Sprawl-Busters reported that the owner of a Giant Eagle grocery store in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania has decided to go public with her opposition to a proposed Wal-Mart superstore on Robinson Boulevard that involves the use of public subsidies, and lobbying by some very powerful politicians. Debbie Hickman, who opened the Giant Eagle on Frankstown road in 2002, sent a letter to Wal-Mart asking them to withdraw from their project. The Arkansas-based retailer told the media it was proceeding with plans to open a 148,000 s.f. store in 2009 in the former East Hills Shopping Center. This Wal-Mart project has been in the works for several years, but the company admitted its plans only last February.
The proposed superstore will border the communities of Penn Hills, Wilkinsburg, and Pittsburgh, and is part of Wal-Mart public relations effort known as the “Jobs and Opportunity Zone (JOZ).” “The plan is to help local businesses prosper by providing resources that will allow them to tailor their business model to attract customers,” said a Wal-Mart spokesman. “Independent businesses have an enormous advantage over chain retailers when it comes to customizing what they offer consumers.”
Wal-Mart said it chose the East Hills site after “heavy lobbying” by former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, Gov. Ed Rendell and Allegheny County officials. Although the jobs and opportunities appear to be mostly for Wal-Mart, the rhetoric from the retailer is that it will create 10 of these “Zones” across the nation in order to provide help for small businesses in the area. Wal-Mart will provide free in-store radio announcements and buy newspaper ads for 5 area businesses, and once a year will give them a copy of Wal-Mart’s “Trends Reports.” The company says it will hold seminars for small businesses, and work with the local chamber of commerce to promote small retailers.
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Posted by Al Norman on Friday, August 08 | 0 comments | Permalink
RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT AGAINST WAL-MART in North Tonawanda, NY
NORTH TONAWANDA: Public input on Wal-Mart grows passionate again [Tonawanda News (N.Y.)]
City planners on Monday OK’d amendments to Wal-Mart’s site plan, and boisterous input dominating Tuesday’s regular council meeting won’t likely change that.
About 50 residents and others representing the Lumber City Liaisons and North Tonawanda First (for and against Wal-Mart respectively) had it out with each other and members of the council concerning just one of 17 total items on the meeting’s agenda — “permission to negotiate the purchase of city property regarding Wal-Mart.”
A strip of city-owned land on the project’s planned construction site at the old Melody Fair grounds, Bluebird Drive, must be relinquished — in this case sold — to the retailer before construction can begin. The office of Mayor Larry Soos is having the property appraised in advance of the sale.
“We’re not picking numbers out of the sky. We’re getting a full appraisal on this piece of property,” Administrative Assistant Jeffrey Mis said.
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Posted by Joel Nezianya on Wednesday, August 06 | 0 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update For Elected Officials
Check out this week’s issue of the Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update for Elected Officials – a compilation of Wal-Mart news from across the country and beyond.
This week’s issue focuses on the big story of the week - Wal-Mart’s efforts to mobilize its managers across the country to warn of a Democratic win in November. The company has been holding mandatory meetings for its store managers and department supervisors (possibly in violation of state and federal election law), who are being warned that if Democrats win in November it could lead to potential store unionization. The meetings focus on a piece of proposed legislation called the Employee Free Choice Act, which could make it easier for stores to unionize if it’s the wish of a simple majority of store employees. Read all the major stories on Wal-Mart’s efforts, plus reaction from Wal-Mart Watch Executive Director David Nassar.
Beyond the possible election law violations, the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune report on new toy safety legislation making its way through Congress. In addition, more legal problems for Wal-Mart - the first Salmonella-related lawsuit has been filed, and Wal-Mart is the defendant. Also, a new story in the Arkansas Business Journal describes how Wal-Mart knew of the existence of labor violations prior to the filing of the recent wage/hour class actions.
And finally, check out our “Stateside” and “Wal-Mart International” sections to find out what’s going on with Wal-Mart around the country and across the globe.
Wal-Mart Watch Weekly Update for Elected Officials
Posted by Corey Himrod on Tuesday, August 05 | 0 comments | Permalink
St. Albans, VT. Mall Owner Wants Wal-Mart To Drop Its Grocery Plans
In one small northern Vermont town, two developers are battling each other over the fate of a proposed Wal-Mart store. One mall owner will lose big-time if the Wal-Mart is built, and the other will make millions off the store. The mall owner is apparently willing to live with the Wal-Mart---as long as it doesn’t have a grocery store component that competes with the mall’s grocery store. On April 22, 2008, Sprawl-Busters reported that Wal-Mart has been trying to get into the town of St. Albans, Vermont for the past 14 years. The company is now in the thick of its second attempt to push its way onto a cornfield across from the St. Albans Drive-In, just off Route 89, a few miles south of the Canadian border.
Wal-Mart lost its first attempt in 1995 in a case that went all the way to the Vermont Supreme Court. In this second try, local officials have again given the store its blessing, as well as the regional commission set up under Vermont’s Act 250 land use control law. But the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) and local residents have filed the legal paperwork needed for a “Motion to Alter” to ask the District 6 Commission to reverse its position and rescind the granting of an Act 250 permit that would allow the Wal-Mart superstore. In addition to the VNRC, the citizen’s group the Northwest Citizens for Responsible Growth (NWCRG) and farmers Marie Frey and Richard Hudak, appealed. Hudak owns a prominent farm stand in St. Albans town just down Route 7. The appeal charges that the Act 250 District 6 commission, which is the local panel that hears Act 250 cases in the St. Albans area, ignored its own findings when it granted the permit. According to the Vermont Business Magazine, the appeal cites the finding that the superstore would pollute a nearby brook, increase traffic congestion, and cost as many as 200-297 jobs, and result in the closure of over 40 businesses in the abutting city of St. Albans. The District 6 Commission also was warned that the project would pave over prime agricultural land, and that the developer had not compensated for the loss of those soils.
The Commission said it agreed with all these findings, yet voted to grant a permit to the developer, Jeff Davis, who is also responsible for a Wal-Mart in Williston, Vermont, 35 minutes south of this site.
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Posted by Al Norman on Monday, August 04 | 5 comments | Permalink
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