FLORIDA SITE FIGHT: HIGH SCHOOL KNOCKED DOWN TO MAKE WAY FOR WAL-MART
New Walmart buildup begins [News-Journal (Fla.)]
DAYTONA BEACH—Plans for a Walmart Supercenter moved a step closer this week after the city issued a demolition permit for the old Father Lopez Catholic High School.
The nation’s largest retailer is buying the property, on Nova Road between Mason Avenue and Madison Street, and will build the city’s second Walmart Supercenter on the 21-acre site.
The high school moved in the summer to a $24 million facility on LPGA Boulevard, across from Municipal Stadium.
Quenta Vettel, a Walmart spokeswoman, said the company has not finalized the contract with the Catholic Diocese of Orlando and also is still going through the permitting process.
“We don’t own it yet,” Vettel said Wednesday in a telephone interview.
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Posted by Luke West on Friday, October 03 | 0 comments | Permalink
Crescent City, FL. County Agrees To Give Wal-Mart $5 Million In Bail Out
We’ve learned the hard way that Wall Street likes free taxpayer money as much as it loves the free market. But Wal-Mart has had its hands in the public treasury for years. On August 26, 2007, Sprawl-Busters reported that Wal-Mart was in line for a series of financial “gifts” from Florida taxpayers in return for building a distribution center. The giant retailer sought to convince local officials that without public subsidies, their distribution center would never fly. It’s not remarkable that this huge company would try to act like a welfare recipient---but what is remarkable is that any city or town official would fall for that “poor mouth” routine.
In Putnam County , Florida. according to the Palatka Daily News, Wal-Mart has asked county taxpayers to pick up the cost of a $2 million road to their proposed distribution center in South Putnam. Wal-Mart wrote up a 60 page memorandum of understanding for the Putnam County Commissioners. The $2 million road will be called “New Crawford Road,” but it really should be called “Walton’s Welfare Way,” because it will give Wal-Mart trucks and workers direct access to the distribution center from U.S 17.
Wal-Mart suggested the access road after opponents raised objections to truck traffic on Clifton Road adjacent to the site. Wal-Mart says the county would pay for the road with a $2 million “grant” from the state Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development. So state taxpayer’s are being clipped for the $2 million---but it’s a “grant,” as if the money was conferred by some angel. Wal-Mart has even offered to loan $2 million to the county until the grant is obtained. If the road costs more than that, the memorandum says, the county would have to look for more sources of funds. If no other sources are found, Wal-Mart will pick up the difference. Even worse, county taxpayers will assume ongoing maintenance of the road, which will need significant maintenance because of the incessant heavy truck traffic. But there’s more.
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Posted by Al Norman on Monday, September 29 | 0 comments | Permalink
Tarpon Springs, FL. Wal-Mart Returns To Continue Three Year Riverfront Battle
On January 17, 2008, Sprawl-Busters reported that a Wal-Mart battle in Tarpon Springs, Florida reached its three year mark---and the giant retailer had suffered yet another setback. Three years prior, on January 19, 2005 at 6:45am, after nearly 12 hours of testimony, with more than 300 plus citizens and business owners testifying against the plan, the Tarpon Springs Board of Commissioners voted 3 to 2 to approve an enormous Wal-Mart development on the Anclote River. One vote made the difference.
The site plan approved included a 24 hour SuperCenter with a 1,000 space parking lot, tire and lube center and an out parcel for a restaurant or retail store, plus 6 acres for residential or office development. A citizens group called Friends of the Anclote River charged that the plan was an irresponsible project that would have adverse impacts on the ecology, the economy, the traffic burden, and the small town character and future of the community. In June of 2006, local resident Chris Hrabovsky alleged that federal wetlands regulators at the Army Corps of Engineers had worked in lockstep with Wal-Mart to ensure the retailer received necessary permits.
Hrabovsky contended that the permits were issued in violation of federal wetlands conservation laws. He sued the city, but lost his appeal in court. The Friends of Anclote kept up their battle to protect their river. “That’s our main concern,” a spokeswoman for the group stated. “It’s a river of special significance and state agencies have not taken that to heart.” Under community pressure, Wal-Mart submitted a second plan in October of 2007, with a 204,000 s.f., Mediterranean-style Supercenter. The City of Tarpon Springs’ Technical Review Committee (TRC), after a three hour hearing, voted to approve the plan---with some minor changes.
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Posted by Al Norman on Monday, September 29 | 0 comments | Permalink
FLORIDA SITE FIGHT: DEBATE RAGES IN TARPON SPRINGS
Tarpon Springs Wal-Mart site plan as contentious as ever [St. Petersburg Times (Fla.)]
TARPON SPRINGS — The Wal-Mart saga drags on.
Because this week’s Planning and Zoning Board meeting barely made it out of the starting blocks, city commissioners next month will have less than 24 hours to consider that board’s recommendation before making a decision.
This week’s meeting didn’t come close to producing that recommendation. About 90 people showed up; 35 signed up to speak; one got to the podium. So they’ll try again Oct. 20 — one day before the City Commission is supposed to decide whether to approve the changes in Wal-Mart’s site plans.
It didn’t take long for Monday’s meeting to unravel.
As soon as it started at 7 p.m., the board called a 10-minute recess to read a last-minute memo from the city attorney. Then Wal-Mart attorney David Theriaque asked two members to recuse themselves because they’d spoken publicly against the project.
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Posted by Luke West on Friday, September 26 | 0 comments | Permalink
TENNESSEE SIGHT FIGHT: MORE ON THE DELAY IN CORDOVA
Cordova Wal-Mart Hits Delays in County, City [Memphis Daily News]
The hotly contested zoning case involving a Wal-Mart Supercenter at Houston Levee and Macon roads has been delayed by the Memphis City Council and the Shelby County Board of Commissioners.
The case is an appeal of an earlier decision by the city-county Land Use Control Board approving the site plan.
The Gray’s Creek Association, a homeowners group, is pursuing the appeal to the council and commission.
About half of the 315,000 square feet in the site plan is the store. The rest would be parking as well as space for smaller retail stores.
Some homeowners in the area oppose the Wal-Mart because of the traffic it would generate and because it would border a residential area. Others argue Wal-Mart shouldn’t be allowed to build because it still operates two other stores in the same area.
Wal-Mart executives were prepared to fight for their project before the first of the delays at the Sept. 22 County Commission meeting. They came with signs and were prepared to argue residential growth in the area warrants a third store. The company also has agreed to pay for some of the road improvements to handle the increased traffic.
The commission delayed its vote on the appeal for a month because all 13 commissioners weren’t present for Monday’s meeting. The council, meeting Tuesday, delayed the item until the commission makes its decision.
Posted by Luke West on Thursday, September 25 | 0 comments | Permalink
Weekly Update for Elected Officials: Sept. 24, 2008
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 begins with reports of price gouging on the part of Wal-Mart. What’s truly abhorrent about these reports, however, is that they are being made by the very people affected most by the recent cavalcade of hurricanes to batter the Gulf coast. The Arkansas News Bureau and The Consumerist have more on these stories.
You’ll also find major news on the legal front. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed its second lawsuit against Wal-Mart in less than three weeks. The first involves the Americans with Disabilities Act in Illinois; the second involves age discrimination against a 67-year-old optician in Missouri. In addition to the EEOC lawsuits, Wal-Mart will now have to face another class action wage/hour lawsuit. Salvas v. Wal-Mart was originally certified as a class action back in 2004. Since then the case has gone back and forth through the Massachusetts court system, eventually being decertified and winding up in front of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on appeal. Well, the SJC released its opinion this week, ruling that the decertification was improper and that the lawsuit should be reinstated as a class action. A trial is possible, which could cost Wal-Mart hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid wages and damages. The Boston Globe and Boston Herald have the story.
Also check out the Product and Food Safety Report, where you’ll find stories on BPA (and a class action lawsuit regarding the chemical that includes Wal-Mart), dangerous soccer goals and baby cribs sold at Wal-Mart, and a pet food recall involving Purina products sold at the retailer.
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 [September 24, 2008]
Posted by Corey Himrod on Wednesday, September 24 | 2 comments | Permalink
FLORIDA SITE FIGHT: RESIDENTS WANT SECOND WAL-MART PRESENTATION IN ESTERO
Community asks for second Wal-Mart presentation on Estero store [News-Press (Fla.)]
The Estero Council of Community Leaders wants Wal-Mart representatives to present its revised plans for a store on U.S. 41 and Estero Parkway at its November meeting.
The retailer is already scheduled to attend the Estero Community Planning Panel meeting on Nov. 17.
The community leaders are scheduled to meet on Nov. 21.
Wal-Mart officials met with Estero residents last week and announced that they want to start construction on their 228,000 square-foot store before the widening of a 2.5 mile stretch of U.S. 41 begins.
Lee County Commissioners approved the project in 2004, stipulating that Wal-Mart construction could not start until the road work began.
The two presentations are expected to be identical, said Don Eslick of the ECCL.
The project has community-wide appeal, he said, explaining why the ECCL wants Wal-Mart on its November agenda.
Posted by Luke West on Wednesday, September 24 | 0 comments | Permalink
GEORGIA SITE FIGHT: WAL-MART PLAN UNVEILED FOR ALBANY
Wal-Mart plans unveiled [Albany Herald (Ga.)]
ALBANY — The Albany City Commission took a first big tangible step toward bringing a Wal-Mart shopping center to East Albany at the commission’s business meeting Tuesday night by unanimously agreeing to a rezoning request that will allow developers to move forward with the planning of the development.
Project Civil Engineer Mike Ranks of the Greenville, S.C., firm Freeland and Kauffman told commissioner the rezoning request would allow developers to provide four access roads to the shopping center.
“As we’ve developed the site plan, access has become a major concern,” Ranks said. “After conducting a traffic study of the region, we’ve made appropriate changes to allow for greater distance between the existing traffic signal and a proposed new signal (both on Cordele Road).”
Asked by Mayor Willie Adams if the traffic signal proposal met Department of Transportation requirements, Ranks said since Cordele is a city-controlled street, the city will make the ultimate decision on the location of the traffic signal.
Also see: Albany City Commission discuss plans for new Wal-Mart [WXFL-TV (Ga.)]
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Posted by Luke West on Wednesday, September 24 | 0 comments | Permalink
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