FLORIDA SITE FIGHT: MARY ESTHER DENIES REZONING FOR WAL-MART
Mary Esther denies rezoning for Wal-Mart [Northwest Florida Daily News]
MARY ESTHER — Wal-Mart thinks it has found the perfect place for a Supercenter. Too bad the City Council doesn’t agree.
The property eyed by Wal-Mart should stay residential, the council decided by unanimous vote Tuesday.
Wal-Mart was looking for a land use and zoning change to build a store near the intersection of U.S. Highway 98 and Wright Parkway.
However, the council didn’t think a business belongs there.
“I find it incompatible with the surrounding properties,” said Councilman George Crews, who added the proposed 24-hour store was at odds with the bedroom community of Mary Esther.
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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Wednesday, August 01 | 0 comments | Permalink
FLORIDA SITE FIGHT: GETTING READY TO VOTE
Mary Esther City Council to vote on Wal-Mart Tuesday night [Southwest Florida Daily News]
MARY ESTHER — Where there’s a will, there’s a Wal-Mart — at least the company hopes so.
Wal-Mart representatives are hoping perseverance pays off and they can change the minds of Mary Esther’s elected officials during a meeting Tuesday.
Meanwhile, opponents hope to finish what they started and keep the retail giant out of city limits.
The meeting will be at First Baptist Church of Mary Esther at 6:30 p.m.
An unanimous vote earlier this month by the city’s Local Planning Agency set a grim tone for the store’s chances.
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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Tuesday, July 31 | 0 comments | Permalink
FLORIDA SITE FIGHT: PROPOSED WAL-MART STALLS
Proposed Bonita Wal-Mart stalls [(Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press]
Bonita Springs’ first Wal-Mart could be in jeopardy because of traffic concerns, the latest in a list of delays for the project that’s been two years in the making.
“There’s a general problem with traffic out in that area,” City Manager Gary Price said.
The Roberts Group, an Atlanta-based developer behind the 68-acre project, is proposing nearly 400,000 square feet of retail shops and office space, including Wal-Mart, for the northwest corner of Bonita Beach Road and Bonita Grande Drive, near the busy Interstate 75 interchange.
“There’s just not enough capacity to accommodate them without seriously compromising the quality of life,” Mosehn Salehi, Bonita’s transpiration consultant, said.
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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Monday, July 30 | 0 comments | Permalink
Tarpon Springs, FL. Citizens Hold Off Wal-Mart For Two And A Half Years
On March 31, 2007, Sprawl-Busters reported that a Wal-Mart backhoe had begun removing an endangered species of tortoises from the proposed site of a superstore in Tarpon Springs, Florida, on the banks of the Anclote River---before they even had their building permits. The site has been a source of controversy for several years. The Concerned Citizens of Tarpon Springs took the city to court for approving the supercenter project on a 3-2 vote. In March of 2006 a three judge panel in the 6th. Circuit Court for Pinellas County ruled against the Concerned Citizens of Tarpon Springs, and the group, running out of funds, had to end their legal challenge. But the battle did not end there. According to the St. Petersburg Times, Wal-Mart opponents continue to push their charge that Wal-Mart has incorrectly delineated where the wetlands are on the property. The citizens group, Friends of the Anclote, has asked Wal-Mart to agree to allow a third-party wetlands survey. The Southwest Florida Water Management District has given Wal-Mart their permits twice, but the Friends of Anclote say they will challenge the stormwater management permit. “That’s our main concern,” a spokeswoman for the group told The Times. “It’s a river of special significance and state agencies have not taken that to heart.”
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Posted by Al Norman on Friday, July 27 | 0 comments | Permalink
Arkansas: Shoppers Concerned Over Safety
Wal-Mart Shoppers Concerned Over Safety [KATV-7, Little Rock (Ark.)]
Little Rock - While incidents like the one Sunday attract the attention of the media, police are called to Wal-Mart stores every day.
Back on July 7th, Pam Tank’s 14-year-old daughter had her purse snatched while she was strapping her three-year-old brother into a car seat.
Pam says a security officer who was one aisle away watched, but did nothing.
(Pam Tank, Mabelvale) “There’s a lot of theft of property...shoplifting.”
Angered, she requested copies of all police incident reports from that Wal-Mart for the past 12 months.
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Posted by Corey Himrod on Tuesday, July 24 | 0 comments | Permalink
FLORIDA SITE FIGHT: MORE WAL-MARTS FOR ORLANDO
New Wal-Mart coming to major intersection [Orlando Sentinel]
Attention, Wal-Mart shoppers: The retail giant is coming to the corner of U.S. Highway 17-92 and State Road 436, replacing an old Service Merchandise.
Wal-Mart officials are meeting this week with Casselberry city commissioners to go over plans.
At 149,000 square feet, the store will be one of the retail chain’s smaller Supercenters.
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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Monday, July 23 | 0 comments | Permalink
LOUISIANA SITE FIGHT: STORE PLANS IN FLUX
Wal-Mart says Veterans store plans in flux [The Times-Picayune]
More than two months after its designs for a new store at the Kenner-Metairie line were rejected, Wal-Mart said it remains interested in the site but has no timeline for development.
The retailing giant’s proposal for a Supercenter this year lacked the parking spaces and other features needed to satisfy parish codes. It was partially withdrawn and partially voted down at a Jefferson Parish Council meeting in April.
A Wal-Mart official said then that it would take about two months for the store to return with new plans, but he said this week that a companywide slowdown in growth and the possibility of buying more property around the site are causing delays.
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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Monday, July 23 | 0 comments | Permalink
FLORIDA SITE FIGHT: NEIGHBORS EXPECT MORE FROM WAL-MART
Neighbors expect more from Wal-Mart [St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times]
Residents are keeping an eye on the recently announced deal to bring a Wal-Mart Supercenter to South Tampa.
Top on their list of concerns: traffic and storm drainage.
Community members watched Monday’s storm puddle at the proposed site, at Gandy Boulevard and Lois Avenue, and hoped building the store’s lot won’t make matters worse.
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Posted by Beth Gostanian on Friday, July 20 | 0 comments | Permalink
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