Gresham, Ore. Groups Go To Court
Wal-Mart, foes take Gresham case to state board [Gresham (Ore.) Outlook]
Wal-Mart lawyers on Thursday told the state Land Use Board of Appeals that the city of Gresham’s rejection of its application was based on insubstantial evidence, the company’s latest attempt to build at a high-traffic intersection.
Attorneys for the city and the citizens’ group Gresham First told the board that Wal-Mart was denied because the company was basing traffic projections on erroneous statistics concerning “trip distribution.” The issue concerns how much traffic the store is projected to generate and how those vehicles will enter and exit the site.
The Centennial, Southwest and Hollybrook neighborhoods were also represented at the 90-minute hearing Thursday, Feb. 22, in Salem. Wal-Mart officials appealed to the three-member board after Gresham’s hearing officer, Joe Turner, twice ruled against the company. The latest denial was in November 2006.
Wal-Mart has been trying for two years to build a store at the intersection of Powell Boulevard, 182nd Avenue and Southwest Highland Drive. It is one of Gresham’s most dangerous intersections.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, February 26 | 0 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Sues Harrison, Ill.
Wal-Mart sues Harrison to keep measure opposing store off ballot [Cincinnati Enquirer]
HARRISON - Wal-Mart is going to court over the possibility of going to the polls.
The giant retailer has sued the city of Harrison and the Hamilton County Board of Elections to keep a referendum on the future of a proposed store from being placed before the voters.
The citizens group Harrison Residents for Responsible Development is joining the suit as an intervening party on the side of the Board of Elections. The group opposes the proposed store.
Final briefs for intervening parties in the case must be filed by Monday. Tim Mara, attorney for the citizens group, intends to meet the court’s deadline.
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Posted by Corey Himrod on Monday, February 26 | 0 comments | Permalink
Godfrey, Ill. Farm Threatened by Proposed Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart eyes Godfrey farm [(Ill.) Telegraph]
GODFREY - Village officials and the owner of Joehl’s Alfalfa Queen Farm confirmed Friday that Wal-Mart is interested in buying the farm to develop a Supercenter.
“We haven’t sold yet because of contingencies, but when they are solved, and if it is passed, it will be a go,” said owner Anthony Joehl, who plans to sell 37 of 180 acres at 6610 Godfrey Road, near where the Illinois 255 extension eventually will end in Godfrey.
The Telegraph first reported the potential for a Wal-Mart at that site Jan. 10, but the parties involved said they did not know what retailer was looking at the property.“I’m just glad we now know who is interested. It looks like (economic development planner Matthew Asselmeier) working with Retail Realty to bring a retail development to Godfrey has been successful, and we hope there will be more,” Mayor Mike Campion said. “The ball is officially rolling.”
On Friday morning, a courier delivered to Village Hall a proposed preliminary site plan for a Wal-Mart Supercenter that included a request to rezone the property from agricultural to B-4, or highway business.
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Posted by Corey Himrod on Monday, February 26 | 0 comments | Permalink
Tucson, AZ. Developer Offers $2 Million to Sweeten Wal-Mart Deal
How much does it take to get a big box store exempted from the zoning rules? That’s what Wal-Mart hopes to find out soon.
The Arizona Daily Star reports that a developer has offered $2 million for “neighborhood betterment” in order to better his own bottom line. A developer has submitted plans, called The Bridges, for a housing subdivision, a bioscience park, and a big box store on the south side of Tucson. The city would also kick in $4.5 million from the construction sales taxes generated from the project, for job training, business assistance and neighborhood programs.
Eastbourne Investments Ltd., the developer, will be back in front of the City Council on February 27th.
The newspaper said this last-minute financial “offer” may “cool off the political hot potato of a big-box Wal-Mart...which has bounced around the city and burned many fingers for the past year.” The developer has tried to sweeten the Wal-Mart deal with upscale housing, and a “tech park” to be developed by the University of Arizona on the enormous, 350 acre site.
The project requires the City Council to exempt Eastbourne from the city’s big box ordinance, and school arrangements for the children who move into the housing has also been a sticking point. The newspaper says the project includes 1 million square feet of retail, which is about the size of 21 football fields—not counting any of the parking lots, which could triple the impervious space.
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Posted by Al Norman on Monday, February 26 | 0 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Submits Plans in Streator, Ill.
STREATOR: Wal-Mart submits plan for proposed store [(Ill.) Times]
Wal-Mart submitted a preliminary site layout Tuesday for its proposed 156,000- square-foot supercenter store near the northeast corner of Route 23 and Marilla Park Road.
The Streator Plan Commission will review rezoning and other issues related to the proposal during its March 13 meeting, City Manager Paul Nicholson said.
Sale of the land has not been completed, but a deal may be in place contingent on whether the City Council approves all the steps necessary for Wal-Mart to build the store, Nicholson said. Wal-Mart spokesman John Bisio did not return a call from The Times seeking comment.
Formal announcement of the project by Wal-Mart has yet to happen, but Nicholson said the city was informed last week that such an announcement is forthcoming.
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Posted by Corey Himrod on Friday, February 23 | 0 comments | Permalink
Huntington Beach, CA. Wal-Mart Asks Disabled Woman To Leave Because of Service Dog
On January 5, 2002, Sprawl-Busters posted the story of Rodney Jackson, a disabled man with a Service Dog who was kicked out of a Wal-Mart in Douglas, Georgia, despite the fact that the store displayed a 12” x 12” sign that stated “Service Dogs Welcome”.
Earlier this week Sprawl-Busters received another Service Dog story from Gina Pettrow in Huntington Beach, California.
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Posted by Al Norman on Thursday, February 22 | 0 comments | Permalink
Irmo, SC. Wal-Mart Opponents Want To Form Their Own Town
Don’t like the growth policies of your local town officials? Form your own town!
When officials in Irmo, South Carolina decided to annex land from Richland County in order to build a Wal-Mart, the residents in the affected area began talking about creating the new town of Ballentine, to gain more control over how land in their community is used.
Sprawl-Busters reported on August 30, 2006, that there are six Wal-Mart supercenters within 20 miles of the town of Irmo. In order to help Wal-Mart build a 196,000 s.f. store on Dutch Fork Road, the Irmo Town Council had to annex a 100-foot-wide strip of land, two-miles long, that runs along railroad tracks to connect the 46 acre site Wal-Mart wants with the existing town limits.
Residents in Ballentine, an unincorporated area of the county, have been talking about incorporating for at least six years, but the issue of incorporation floundered until Irmo’s recent annexation for Wal-Mart. According to The State newspaper, Irmo officials are now threatening Ballentine residents to stop opposing the annexation, or their hopes of incorporating a new town is over, since Irmo has to agree to the incorporation.
Irmo officials are reportedly angry at neighborhood leaders for continuing their efforts to block the huge Wal-Mart shopping center.
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Posted by Al Norman on Wednesday, February 21 | 0 comments | Permalink
Wichita, KS. City’s Denial of Wal-Mart Leads to Lawsuit
On January 10, 2007, Sprawl-Busters reported that Wal-Mart had been defeated in Wichita, Kansas — but that the battle was far from over.
At the time, Mayor Carlos Mayans reportedly wanted the project continued, not denied, to give Wal-Mart time to buy-out the neighbors, and to firm up a land deal Wal-Mart was offering to buy extra land for an elementary school.
“We didn’t even give them every opportunity to work it out,” said one council member. “I wanted to give them that chance.” It turns out that Wal-Mart is likely to get that second chance.
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Posted by Al Norman on Tuesday, February 20 | 0 comments | Permalink
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