Western Regional News Update: March 16, 2007

CALIFORNIA SITE FIGHT: COUNCIL EXPLAINS DECISION
Council explains Wal-Mart decision [Brentwood (Calif.) Discovery Bay Press]
Although the planned expansion of Wal-Mart into a 24-hour supercenter was essentially killed at the Feb. 13 City Council meeting, it was made official last week as the council cited four reasons for its decision.

WASHINGTON SITE FIGHT: WORKING ON SETTLEMENT
City officials working on settlement with Wal-Mart [Yakima (Wash.) Herald-Republic]
Although a court date looms, Yakima officials are trying to settle their differences with Wal-Mart in closed-door negotiations. “The attorneys for the city are hopeful that we’ll be able to resolve those issues without having to actually go to court,” said Randy Beehler, Yakima’s communication manager.

HAWAII SITE FIGHT: TOPPING THE AGENDA
Big box, county attorney top agenda [Kauai (Hawaii) Garden World]
A representative for Wal-Mart and a government watchdog yesterday offered pros and cons for a bill limiting the size of big box stores as the Kaua‘i County Council scheduled an April 25 public hearing on the issue.

NEVADA SITE FIGHT: CLOSE, OPEN
One Wal-Mart closes as another opens [Reno (Nev.) Gazette-Journal]
A new Wal-Mart Supercenter scheduled to open in summer 2008 on tribal land along Glendale Avenue east of its junction with U.S. 395 will mark the closure of the Wal-Mart on Northtowne Lane. 

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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, March 16 | 0 comments | Permalink

Southeast Regional News Update: March 16, 2007

ALABAMA SITE FIGHT: WAL-MART PLANS STORE
Wal-Mart plans small store on Cottage Hill [Mobile (Ala.) Register]
Wal-Mart paid more than $2.5 million for 10 acres at the southeast corner of Dawes and Cottage Hill roads, according to attorney B.J. Lyon . The land was sold by the Lyon family and other investors. Wal-Mart plans to start construction this spring on a smaller supercenter, about 123,000 square feet rather than the customary 200,000, according to Jerry O’Brien of O’Brien & Associates, who worked for the discount chain.

GEORGIA SITE FIGHT: WAL-MART COMING?
Southside Wal-Mart takes step forward [Savannah (Ga.) Morning News]
The Savannah City Council on Thursday allowed Wal-Mart to pave its own way to a new Supercenter on the southside. The retail giant received unanimous approval to move a portion of Fulton Road to get more room for a new store that will replace a long-abandoned Wal-Mart store on Abercorn Street across from the Savannah Mall.

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, March 16 | 0 comments | Permalink

Midwest Regional News Update: March 16, 2007

ILLINOIS BILL WOULD BAR WAL-MART BANK
Illinois bill would bar Wal-Mart bank [Chicago Tribune]
Worried that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is hatching plans to become a major player in its industry, the Community Bankers Association of Illinois is pushing for the Illinois Senate to pass a bill that would effectively bar commercial companies, such as retailers, from chartering their own banks.

“It would prevent a commercial firm from building or attaching a branch to its commercial property,” Terry Griffin, Chicago-area vice president for the association, explained earlier this week. “We initiated the bill and got it sponsored.”

WAL-MART TRIES OUT ‘GREEN STORE’ IN MIDWEST
Meeting in Perrysburg will sort out zoning issues [Toledo (Ohio) Blade]
Officials from Perrysburg and Perrysburg Township have set a date for a joint meeting to resolve problems stemming from the overlap of zoning codes between the two neighbors. 

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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, March 16 | 0 comments | Permalink

Southwest Regional News Updates: March 16, 2007

ARIZONA SITE FIGHT: VOTERS DECIDING
Voters to decide races in area towns, Wal-Mart fate [Yavapai County (Ariz) Daily Courier]
And while four incumbents are running unopposed in Prescott Valley, voters there will decide whether to uphold a council decision from this past July on rezoning 19.5 acres to allow a Wal-Mart supercenter.

UTAH SITE FIGHT: KEEPING WAL-MART OUT
Heber Residents Trying to Keep Wal-Mart Out [KSL-TV, Salt Lake City, Utah]
A petition drive will begin tomorrow morning in Heber City. Members of “Keep Heber Valley First” want to prevent Wal-Mart from building a store there.

ARIZONA SITE FIGHT: NEW WAL-MART
New Wal-Mart to open in April [Yuma (Ariz.) Sun]
Yuma’s newest Wal-Mart, on the eastern edge of the city is due to open next month, about the same time construction on the San Luis, Ariz., store is slated to begin.

UTAH SITE FIGHT: STATE MAY RELAX LAWS
Utah may relax eminent domain laws [Central Utah Daily Herald]
Utah was one of the first states to rein in the use of eminent domain to make sure private development couldn’t capitalize on laws intended to serve the public good. Now, the state could be one of the first to relax those rules...House Bill 365 could allow Ogden to push forward with plans to condemn land so a Wal-Mart could be built. 

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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, March 16 | 0 comments | Permalink

Atlantic Regional News Update: March 16, 2007

PENNSYLVANIA SITE FIGHT: WAL-MART PRAISED, OPPOSED
Wal-Mart praised, opposed [Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]
Wal-Mart Corp.’s decision to locate a store at the site of the former East Hills Shopping Center underscores a story of substantial growth in Pennsylvania and the Pittsburgh region. Like it or not—and there is a variety of opinion on the company’s effect on local businesses—there’s no doubt that Wal-Mart has established a substantial presence in Pennsylvania in a relatively short period of time.

PENNSYLVANIA SITE FIGHT: WAL-MART WANTS TO TALK
Wal-Mart wants to talk with Ross [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
Wal-Mart wants to talk with Ross officials about stop lights or other street improvements before it does any more planning for a store on busy McKnight Road.

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, March 16 | 0 comments | Permalink

Atlantic Regional News Updates:

NORTH CAROLINA SITE FIGHT: LOCUST APPROVES WAL-MART
Locust approves Wal-Mart [Albemarle (N.C.) News & Press]
Wal-Mart received the blessings of the Locust City Council Thursday night to build a new SuperCenter store near the Crutchfield Campus of Stanly Community College. The council split on approval and cast a 5-2 vote with councilmembers Charlie Hinson and Ray Smith dissenting.

VIRGINIA SITE FIGHT: JUDGE CONSIDERS WHETHER TO DISMISS SUIT
Judge considers whether to dismiss Wal-Mart lawsuit [Roanoke (Va.) Times]
A group of Roanoke County landowners fighting the location of a Wal-Mart Supercenter in their neighborhood will have to wait awhile longer to know whether a court will hear their plea.

NEW JERSEY SITE FIGHT: RILING UP RESIDENTS
Plan to build Wal-Mart, Wawa riles up residents [New Jersey Express-Times]
Plans for a Wal-Mart and more on Route 46 near Upper Sarepta Road were “pie in the sky,” according to the site’s developer.

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, March 16 | 0 comments | Permalink

Upset About Wal-Mart

Donna in Alaska asks Al,

There is a Wal-Mart coming to my home town of Juneau, Alaska. I am extremely upset about this, as are many. How can we stop it or at the very least get them to play fair by treating the employees well?

Walmart moved to Ketchikan, AK. Since that Ketchikan is not the same place. The business in the downtown area of Ketchikan existed for over 30 years. Well, because of Wal-Mart all of those locally owned businesses are now closed. The downtown area is literally dead. I refuse to let this happen to my home what do we do?

Donna,

First, learn from what other communities have been through in their battles against Wal-Mart.

Go to Battle-Mart, click on “Battle Plan”, and then open “Battlemart 101” to review the basic strategies for organizing against a Wal-Mart.

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Posted by Al Norman on Thursday, March 15 | 0 comments | Permalink

Neptune Beach, FL. Wal-Mart’s Litigation Against City Pays Off Big

This story begins in the context of a city with a 60,000 s.f. cap on commercial buildings, and it goes downhill from there. In September, 2006 the city council in Neptune, Florida voted to reject a 117,000 s.f.

Wal-Mart supercenter on 14 acres of land where an empty mall now stands. But under the legal pressure of a lawsuit from the developer and Wal-Mart, the city agreed to negotiate before a “special master” to try to reach a settlement. The city had spent $93,000 fighting Wal-Mart’s project.

About $74,000 had been spent on the city’s attorney, but another $18,000 has been spent on consultants and a traffic engineer. Fast forward to the end of February, 2007. The City Council voted 4-1 to accept a recommended settlement from the Special Magistrate that will allow Wal-Mart to build a Supercenter on Atlantic Boulevard after all.

One Councilwoman told the Florida Times Union she found it “despicable” that Wal-Mart hurts the character of small communities, but said she couldn’t risk taking the city to a lengthy and potentially costly lawsuit if the city rejected the proposed settlement. “We have already spent $100,000 in [mediation] ... I love this community too much to place it in jeopardy of a $1 million or $2 million or $3 million lengthy lawsuit or litigation,” she said.

“I wish I could say, ‘No, I’m not going to support this.’ But for my community, I don’t feel like I have any other choice but to support this.” The settlement from the Special Magistrate contains 16 conditions, including a provision that Wal-Mart pay the city $300,000 for its legal costs.

The Magistrate also threw in a stop light for good measure, and told Wal-Mart to “change the aesthetics” of its store, by using more “earth tones” on its outside walls. The only voice against this “settlement” was Councilman John Weldon, who noted, “This settlement disregards the substantial negative impact that this development will have on both traffic circulation and general quality of life in Neptune Beach.

The monetary contributions called for in this settlement set a particularly bad precedent for future development applications.” Wal-Mart’s lawyer told the newspaper, “Obviously, we’re pleased with the outcome and Wal-Mart is excited about the opportunity to serve its customers at the Beaches.” The Wal-Mart will be located in mall that now must be torn down to make way for the superstore.

Many residents in Neptune Beach were appalled by the way their City Council caved-in to financial pressures. One anti-Wal-Mart activist told Sprawl-Busters.

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Posted by Al Norman on Thursday, March 15 | 0 comments | Permalink

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