New Scotland, NY. Town Passes Six Month Moratorium Under Threat of Big Boxes
New Scotland, New York describes itself as “the best kept secret of Albany County.” This small town, population 8,711, says on its website, “Today, this Jewel continues to charm and allure residents with its rural characteristics, suburban, agricultural and commercial qualities.”
This charm and quiet secret is being disrupted by a developer’s plans to construct a 750,000 s.f. big box mall on a 179 acre farm in one of the town’s 7 villages, Voorheesville, which has only 2,764 people. The goal of New Scotland is to “strive to preserve this beautiful region,” so the big box proposal has become one of the most controversial projects in the history of this community.
The town’s comprehensive land use plan states that residents want commercial enterprises that meet their needs and that the stores not be a regional draw. In other words, residents in the town of New Scotland do not want big-box malls. Recently, the New Scotland planning was asked to impose a six month moratorium on all retail projects in excess of 30,000 s.f. The planning board voted not to support the moratorium, claiming that they did not have enough information about the proposal.
But this week, 500 people packed the Voorheesville High School auditorium as the Town Board voted unanimously to put the moratorium in place. One speaker against the plan told the Board the huge project---which includes an unnamed big box anchor---was “unwarranted, unwanted, and unnecessary.” The Cazenovia, NY.-based developer, Sphere Development, has said the project will not be anchored by a Wal-Mart, and some speculation has turned to Target. But the community could get stuck with either. The plans call for a half-dozen smaller retailers, a Shakespearean amphitheater, farmers market and environmental park. But it was the big box and the scale which created a furor in town.
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Posted by Al Norman on Friday, May 09 | 0 comments | Permalink
Beaufort, SC. “We Want Good Jobs”
Make sure projects lure high-paying jobs to county [Island Packet (S.C.)]
Beaufort County Council’s vote to designate Buckwalter Place a multicounty industrial park sets up the framework officials hope to use to attract higher-paying jobs to Beaufort County.That’s a laudable goal, but as with most things, there are tradeoffs in the deal. Officials will have to walk a fine line between economic development that brings better-paying jobs and subsidizing a developer by paying for projects that should be paid for by the private sector.
The agreement among Bluffton, where the 115-acre development site sits along Buckwalter Parkway, and Beaufort and Jasper counties sets up fees in lieu of property taxes on 11 parcels.
The fees, equal to what would be paid each year in property taxes, go to a special fund to be used for specific projects, such as buildings and roads, that benefit the industrial park area. The idea is to provide incentives for businesses to locate here. One of the first projects to be considered is a parking facility, according to the county’s 20-year agreement with the town of Bluffton. Bluffton and the county must agree on the scope, details and financing of any project.
The public money is spent only if there is a contractual commitment for private investment at the site, according to comments from Bluffton town manager Bill Workman in County Council meeting minutes. The designation also allows a business locating there to tap state economic incentives.
One percent of the money collected automatically goes to Jasper County, just as Beaufort County receives 1 percent of the fees in lieu of taxes collected for the multicounty industrial park that includes the Hardeeville Wal-Mart and New River Auto Mall. Taxes collected for the Beaufort County School District won’t be affected.
The concept is similar to a tax-increment financing district in that revenue is segregated and used for a specific purpose. And it operates like a TIF district in that it diverts revenue from the county’s operatingbudget.
County Councilman Steve Baer, the lone vote against the agreement on its third and final vote, points to the fact that the plan takes money away from important county services, such as parks,
libraries and law enforcement.
Now that the industrial park designation is in place, we expect county and town officials to thoroughly vet any proposed use of this money. It should not be used to benefit businesses locating there that bring the same type of service jobs already offered in Beaufort County.
The proposed projects should make the difference between a business offering high-skill, high-paying jobs locating here or going somewhere else. It should not be used to make it cheaper for Buckwalter Place to be developed.
Buckwalter Place already has enjoyed the benefits of a new Bluffton development rights bank that set up a mechanism to increase residential development at the site. That same developer
already had been paid by the county to reduce residential and commercial development on
another Buckwalter tract.
County Council Chairman Weston Newton says the council has the authority to put the diverted money back into the county’s operating fund if the council doesn’t deem infrastructure incentives worthwhile.
That’s good because the businesses and residents who will locate at Buckwalter Place in the future will be using those services Baer is worried about paying for.
The rest of us taxpayers should come out ahead, not behind, with this deal.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Thursday, May 08 | 0 comments | Permalink
The Lies Wal-Mart Tells: Wal-Mart’s Expansion Practices
Wal-Mart spends millions of dollars each year on public relations hoping to counteract the negative impact the company’s business practices have on its reputation. In the process, Wal-Mart’s representatives misrepresent the company, even lying to protect its fragile reputation. In this series, we’ll be examining some of the most common lies the company tells - and truth behind the spin.
Lie #1: Wal-Mart Only Builds Stores in Communities That Want It
“If they don’t want Wal-Mart in their community, then just say it. Don’t hide behind all this malarkey.” – Lee Scott [CNNMoney, 4/6/05]
“We have almost adopted the position that if some community, for whatever reason, doesn’t want us in there, we aren’t interested in going in and creating a fuss. I encourage us to walk away from this kind of trouble…Wal-Mart wants to go where it’s wanted.” – [Sam Walton: Made in America, 233]
The Truth:
Rapid City, South Dakota. Residents of the Enchanted Hills Subdivision as well as other residents opposed to a Wal-Mart development, hailed a Planning Commission decision to deny a rezoning request. It was their first victory in a long, long fight. Despite the setback, a Wal-Mart spokesperson said “…we’re still looking at that site as a possibility. No question.” Neighboring residents have objected to the project since it was first proposed in 2006. [Rapid City Journal, 2/27/08]Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Media Team on Thursday, May 08 | 28 comments | Permalink
Cudahy, WI. Wal-Mart & Soccer Team Fail to Score A Goal
Not even an entire soccer team could help Wal-Mart score a goal in Cudahy, Wisconsin. Cudahy is a small community with just over 18,000 people and a motto on the city’s border which reads, “Generations of Pride.” The vision for the city’s future is a revitalized downtown that will become the “heart of the South Shore.” The city is right in the middle of updating its Comprehensive Plan, and one of its most prominent goals is creating a “vital downtown.” The emphasis is on high quality of life, pedestrian-oriented development. That’s why the idea of a new Wal-Mart supercenter ran into rough going in Cudahy from the start. For one thing, the community doesn’t need another Wal-Mart. There are currently ten Wal-Mart’s within 20 miles of Cudahy, including a discount store 5 miles away in Milwaukee, and a supercenter 18 miles away in Sturtevant, Wisconsin. The idea of a supercenter surfaced in November of 2007, when Wal-Mart offered to build their store in an abandoned site called Iceport.
According to CudahyNow, many of the 100 people who came to that first information meeting were cool to the idea of the retailer using the Iceport parcel. “We do not need another outlet for cheap Chinese crap,” one of the evening’s speaker said. The developer, Continental Properties, outlined tentative plans for the “Cudahy Station,” a 26-acre parcel on E. Layton Ave. and the Iceport Way. The Cudahy Wal-Mart was presented as a 137,577 s.f. store. This is on the smaller end of Wal-Mart supercenters, but a company spokeswoman added, “We need to start looking at some of these smaller prototypes because that is what the customer wants. (The Cudahy store) would be a more flexible prototype, something that you have never seen before.”
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Posted by Al Norman on Thursday, May 08 | 0 comments | Permalink
Muskego panel delays action on Wal-Mart
Muskego panel delays action on Wal-Mart [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisc.)]
Plan commissioners delayed action on a site plan for a Wal-Mart Supercenter near Moorland Road and College Ave. after raising concerns about sound, the design and landscaping.
Wal-Mart is proposing to build a 156,400-square-foot retail building on a site off Moorland Road across the street from a future GE Healthcare distribution center.
The proposed Supercenter would operate 24 hours a day and bring 320 jobs to the area, said Deborah Tomczyk, an attorney representing Wal-Mart.
The building would feature a new design, said Richard Hayes, director of architecture for pb2 Architecture & Engineering of Chicago. The building’s three entrances would be enclosed in glass and stretch about 30 feet high. Canopies would cover sidewalks and public areas.
But plan commissioners expressed concerns that the building needed additional refinement. Commissioner Noah Fiedler said noise from the building could be a problem along the property’s south side.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Wednesday, May 07 | 0 comments | Permalink
Tucson, AZ. Wal-Mart Silent on Shopping Center Questions
Wal-Mart mum on El Con Mall move [Tucson Citizen (Ariz.)]
Wal-Mart and Macy’s won’t confirm reports that the two are in discussions about Wal-Mart taking over the vacant Macy’s at El Con Mall.
Lane Oden, an attorney for El Con, reportedly told leaders of surrounding neighborhoods in April that talks are “far along” for Wal-Mart to assume the Macy’s lease, but Oden “doesn’t take calls from reporters,” a woman at his office said.
El Con spokeswoman Susan Allen would not respond to a request for an interview other than to issue a prepared statement:
“Interviews and/or comments on the dispositon of the Macy’s lease at El Con Mall are premature as there is no deal at this time of which we are aware that merits discussion.”
When asked specifically about Wal-mart, Macy’s spokeswoman Laura Smith said: “No comment. We don’t really know the specifics yet. Maybe we will know more in a week.”
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Wednesday, May 07 | 0 comments | Permalink
Lake Wylie, SC. Residents Worry About What Wal-Mart Will Bring
Residents hope new Wal-Mart will maintain Lake Wylie feel [Herald Online]
Jacqui Marquez hopes to help her community get what it wants from Wal-Mart the old-fashioned way—by asking nicely.Marquez has gathered 250 signatures from the Landing neighborhood in Lake Wylie asking Wal-Mart to consider resident input before designing or building a store at the Three Points location.
“A lot of times with things like this, people just end up complaining,” said Marquez, who has lived in Lake Wylie for about four years. “What we wanted to do is to galvanize people in a positive direction.”
Marquez knows the Wal-Mart Supercenter is coming one way or another to the Mill Creek Commons development at the S.C. 274/557 intersection. She wants the new store to be as attractive as possible, especially for her Landing neighbors who live within eyesight of the new center.
“We just hope it looks nice,” Marquez said. “We want it to have a certain look and keep the feel of Lake Wylie as we know it.”
Across the lake, Tega Cay residents and city leaders had plenty of say on how its new Wal-Mart would look. The store recently opened with a village ambiance that looks anything but big box.
The Lake Wylie group hopes to accomplish similar results.
York County Councilman Tom Smith, who represents Lake Wylie, has passed the Marquez’s petition on to Wal-Mart.
“They’re certainly not coming in with the old blue box,” Smith said.
Plans for the Wal-Mart exterior have not been filed with York County, though the other Mill Creek Commons anchor, Lowe’s Home Improvement, has filed plans. The Lowe’s site will be the standard store layout, company spokeswoman Maureen Rich told the Lake Wylie Pilot earlier this year.
Smith also sent Wal-Mart a letter from the newly formed Citizens for the Preservation of Lake Wylie addressing similar cosmetic concerns.
“We are pretty close to the darn thing,” said group organizer Matt Cullen, also a Landing resident. “I think the way it looks, the aesthetics of the Wal-Mart, are pretty important to all of us.”
A construction time frame for Wal-Mart has not been released.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Wednesday, May 07 | 0 comments | Permalink
Blacksburg, VA. Website Reveals Delopment to be Wal-Mart Site
Web site labels big-box store a Wal-Mart [Roanoke Times (Va.)]
The case for a suspected plan to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Blacksburg continued to build this week as a posting for the project on a national construction Web site came to light.
Fairmount Properties—the Ohio development company that last year proposed an unnamed big-box store for land off South Main Street—declined Tuesday to discuss the posting found at bidclerk.com.
BidClerk is a membership site that bills itself as “the construction search engine.” According to the site, it connects contractors with land developers for the construction of public and private projects across the country.
A posting available to nonsubscribers and dated Jan. 29 advertises a need for contractors for site work and new construction for a Wal-Mart to be built in Blacksburg. The posting also contains a map that shows the general location of the site.
Fairmount lawyer Jim Cowan said Tuesday that the company has no comment on the posting.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Wednesday, May 07 | 0 comments | Permalink
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