Cordova, TN. Citizens File Appeal in Wal-Mart Superstore Case
Sprawl-Busters has been following the ups and downs of a proposed Wal-Mart supercenter in Cordova, Tennessee. On July 8, 2008, it was noted that Wal-Mart had shrunk the size of its proposed superstore, cut down the parking lot, and even offered to pay for road improvements---all to woo support in Cordova, Tennessee.
In January of 2008, Wal-Mart announced that it wanted to build a supercenter in Cordova---a community located on the northeast side of the City of Memphis with a population of roughly 53,000 people. When Wal-Mart’s plans became known in Cordova, a non-profit group, the Gray’s Creek Association (GCA), began putting up signs along a large area of unincorporated land that read: “Gray’s Creek Preservation Area.” The group pushed for smart growth development in Cordova---not Wal-Marts.
The area is already saturated with Wal-Marts. A total of 14 Wal-Mart stores are located within 20 miles of Cordova, including a Wal-Mart supercenter on Germantown Parkway just minutes away, and a supercenter in Bartlett 4 miles away. In fact, 8 of the 14 Wal-Marts within 20 miles of Cordova are supercenters. There is no conceivable market need for additional Wal-Marts. The location of Wal-Mart’s latest proposal along Macon and Houston Levee roads, is located on land within the Gray’s Creek Plan, a set of guidelines that Memphis and Shelby County adopted to preserve the area’s property values and to protect it from intense commercial growth.
The GCA has set its focus now on opposing Wal-Mart. “We are a pro-development group,” a leader of GCA told the Commercial Appeal newspaper. “But the haphazard way things have been handled in the past, case by case, has produced a hodgepodge of development both commercial and residential, and the public as a whole has lost confidence in knowing what will come into their neighborhoods.” Folks in Cordova had been hoping that Wal-Mart would build their store in the 1.2 million s.f. Mall of Memphis.
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Posted by Al Norman on Friday, August 15 | 0 comments | Permalink
Site Fight of the Week: Granite City, IL.
The town of Granite City, Illinois, takes great pride in putting people first. Now its residents are putting people before corporations by rallying against a proposed measure that would allow Wal-Mart to expand.
Recently, the Granite City Planning and Zoning Commission granted Wal-Mart’s request to rezone agricultural land for commercial use. Now, the world’s largest corporation will take the measure to the City Council on August 19th. If it passes, Wal-Mart will be allowed to expand its current store on to agricultural land. To add insult to injury, Granite City taxpayers will help subsidize Wal-Mart’s expansion because the project is located in a Tax Increment Financing District.
Wal-Mart hurts communities in many different ways. One Collinsville, Illinois resident wrote to the Press-Record, saying:
“We had a nice, quiet little store before the supercenter took over. Many, many life-time associates—I am talking 20 plus years—have been cut to part time… We are tired and our spirit is broken, don’t do this to your town. Glen Carbon said no, you can too!”
Granite City’s local businesses will feel the brunt of the expansion, as Wal-Mart edges in on their market share. Citizen action group Granite City First explains Wal-Mart would not provide increased sales tax revenue for the town, but rather would simply transfer existing sales away from local businesses. This is hardly compatible with Granite City’s plan for a revitalized downtown.
Granite City does not need unchecked growth; it needs sustainable development. Help make sure Wal-Mart isn’t allowed to super-size its store in Granite City. Use our simple email tool to write a letter to Mayor Hagnauer and the Granite City Council and tell them to stand up to Wal-Mart:
http://action.walmartwatch.com/granitecity
Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton once wrote, “If a community does not want us there, we will go somewhere else.” On May 8, Granite City First delivered 3,000 letters to City Hall from community members protesting Wal-Mart’s expansion. There can be no clearer sign of a community’s opposition. In communities across America, residents have stood up to Wal-Mart and won. Now it’s Granite City’s turn.
Posted by Media Team on Wednesday, August 13 | 1 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
Iowa City, IA. City Officials Put Off Wal-Mart decision Until August 26th
On June 21, 2008, Sprawl-Busters reported that local residents in Iowa City, Iowa were being saturated with flood waters, and saturated with big box stores. Iowa City already has a 110,000 s.f. Wal-Mart discount store on Highway 1 West. The city also has a 122,000 s.f. Target at the Coral Ridge Mall, and a 128,000 s.f. Dillards. They have a 97,000 s.f. Kmart as well. There’s also a Wal-Mart supercenter less than 5 miles away in Coralville, Iowa. There are three Wal-Mart supercenters within 25 miles of Iowa City---so the city’s 63,000 population has easy access to cheap Chinese imports within a short drive. The Iowa City Planning and Zoning Commission in late June delayed for a second time the processing of a Wal-Mart supercenter proposal. According to the Iowa City Press-Citizen, a number of Commissioners just don’t like the looks of the proposed 189,000 s.f. Wal-Mart. “It seems like you didn’t look at the code when you planned this—the big-box standards,” the commission’s chairwoman told the retailer. “We’re not even close to meeting the minimum on these things.”
The Commission wants Wal-Mart to put more green space into their plan, and said the proposal itself is not compatible with the city’s comprehensive plan, which expects an integrated, pedestrian-friendly community. In response to the criticism, one of Wal-Mart’s engineers said, “We will definitely take a look at it.” To approve this plan, the Commission will have to change an agreement that already exists regarding the development of this site. The original agreement says that the site is supposed to have “individual, unrelated buildings.” This week, the Press-Citizen explains that the city council must now vote to amend a conditional zoning agreement signed on the property when it was first developed. That agreement says that the parcel is supposed to be configured with several smaller stores arranged like a shopping center---not one huge box store.
The citizen’s group, Iowa City Stop Wal-Mart, has hired attorney Wally Taylor, who told the city council that the project does not meet the ‘essence’ of that existing zoning agreement. He also indicated that if the city council chooses to ignore that agreement---which all the neighbors have relied upon in making their investment decisions---the citizens would consider appealing to court. Wal-Mart has been busy getting shoppers in their Iowa City store to sign petitions in favor of the supercenter. The retailer says it has gathered 1,600 signatures. At their meeting this week, the Iowa City Council took no action, voting instead to continue the public hearing until August 26th, giving both sides several weeks to lobby the council members.
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Posted by Al Norman on Tuesday, August 12 | 0 comments | Permalink
Granite City, IL. Council To Vote On Wal-Mart Superstore Expansion Next Week
On May 17, 2008, Sprawl-Busters reported that in the early 1990s, the Mayor of Granite City, Illinois made headlines when he took the names of 2,000 local residents who wanted a Wal-Mart store in Granite City down to the corporation’s headquarters in Arkansas. The Mayor ended up getting his store---but a little more than a decade later, the current Mayor of the city received a stack of letters too—but this time from residents who don’t want the existing Wal-Mart expanded into a superstore.
In addition to their discount store on W. Pontoon Road in the Granite City, the retailer also has a supercenter 8 miles away in Colllinsville, Illinois, and has a total of 14 stores within a 20 mile drive of the city. The proposal to expand the current Wal-Mart into a supercenter in Granite City has pushed some residents over the wall. In early May, the Granite City Press-Record carried a photo of anti-Wal-Mart activists, organized into a group called Granite City First, submitting a long scroll of names to the city clerk. The newspaper reported that the group delivered 3,056 letters of opposition to the supercenter to Mayor Hagnauer’s office. “Wal-Marts are bad for any community,” one of the opponents told the Press-Record.
“When unions try to unionize them, they shut them down. They are unfair to workers. They don’t pay enough, and they take away from smaller businesses.” Granite City First said that Wal-Mart’s revenue would simply be transferred from local businesses, lowering Wal-Mart’s assertion that it would boost sales tax in the city. The group stated that the supercenter was incompatible with the city’s plan to revitalize its downtown.
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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
Parker, AZ. Indians Want Casinos and Wal-Mart
Any place in America that has any character or ethnicity left is endangered terrain when it comes to Wal-Mart superstores. Case in point: The Colorado River Indian Tribe’s (CRIT) Reservation outside of Parker, Arizona.
The reservation, located about 189 miles from Phoenix, was created in 1865, and for the past 143 years has somehow managed to survive without a Wal-Mart. The CRIT says its economy is centered around agriculture, recreation, as well as government and light industry. “The fertile river bottom lands and available water allows the production of agricultural and produce such as cotton, alfalfa, wheat, feed grains, lettus and melons. Approximately 84,500 acres are now under cultivation and another 50,000 acres are available for development.”
But the Parker Pioneer newspaper reports this week that Wal-Mart is moving forward with plans to build a store on the Colorado River Indian Reservation just over a tenth of a mile east of Parker, Arizona, and bids on the project have been posted by the Colorado River Building Industry Association. The Association received the architectural plans on July 31st. The store is slated to be built on Route 95, across the road from the Moovalya Plaza Shopping Center. In April of 2006, the CRIT-owned Moovalya Plaza shopping center announced that a Safeway anchor store at the Plaza was being enhanced. The Safeway plaza was upgraded to add a Starbucks coffee shop, plus three new restaurants: Subway, Carvel and Cinnabon. The Moovalya Plaza is a tribally owned shopping center, and the revenue generated by lease payments from tenants and through sales taxes from stores at the site are used to fund Tribal programs. According to CRIT, “The more diversified our economic base becomes, and the more new economic development opportunities that come to the Parker area, the better off Tribal members will be. These opportunities mean more jobs for Tribal members and more tax revenues for critical Tribal services.” The two major economic development projects the Tribe has been engaged in are a casino and retailing. The BlueWater Resort and Casino opened in June, 1999. “The Casino offers a Las Vegas style atmosphere with slots, bingo, keno and poker. There are two restaurants, a snack bar and two cocktail lounges.
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Posted by Al Norman on Thursday, August 07 | 0 comments | Permalink
Eureka, CA. Where’s Wally? Wal-Mart Says Job Ads Are An Error
On August 24, 1999, Sprawl-Busters reported that the voters of Eureka, California had deflated Wal-Mart’s balloon. By a 22% point margin, Eureka residents rejected Wal-Mart’s proposal to build a superstore on industrial waterfront property known as the “balloon track” because of its shape.
Wal-Mart, by its own hand, placed Measure J on the Eureka ballot, drafting a long, complicated zoning question that asked voters to rezone the industrial tract for commercial use. Such use of the property has already been rejected by the California Coastal Commission, but Wal-Mart kept on pushing, organizing a “citizen’s” group to promote its store. But at the end of the day, after the votes were tallied, Wal-Mart only managed to gather 2,605 voters willing to support their cause. Unfortunately for Wal-Mart, 61% of the voters, of 4,015 people, rejected Measure J. The voter turnout was 50%--a level higher than some presidential campaigns.
Wal-Mart’s declared expenditures in the campaign came to over $235,000, or $90 per vote. The Think Twice Committee, which spearheaded the NO on Measure J vote, spent $41,572. “They asked for Eureka to determine their future and we did,” said Humboldt County Supervisor Bonnie Neely, who opposed Measure J. “For a special election, this is precedent-setting”.
Think Twice campaign coordinator Patty Berg told the Times-Standard newspaper that the election showed Eureka’s waterfront isn’t for sale to large retailers, noting the need for better-paying manufacturing jobs. “In the end,” Berg told the paper, “people thought twice.”
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Posted by Al Norman on Thursday, August 07 | 0 comments | Permalink
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