Port Orange, FL. Wal-Mart Withdraws Even A Smaller Plan
On April 3, 2008, Sprawl-Busters reported that Wal-Mart had tried to squeeze too many stores into Port Orange, Florida, population 56,000, and the retailer was cancelling a proposed Wal-Mart supercenter. There already is a Wal-Mart supercenter on Dunlawton Avenue in Port Orange. There’s another Wal-Mart supercenter just over 3 miles away in Daytona Beach.
So the trade area is not deprived of cheap, Chinese imports. It was not a great loss to the economy when the Daytona Beach News-Journal announced that corporate headquarters in Arkansas had pulled the plug on the Wal-Mart supercenter project---which became, at the time, the 46th superstore pullout since June of 2007.
That’s when Wal-Mart stunned many shareholders at its Annual Meeting by announcing a major cutback in its new store growth plans. The news of the withdrawal was left to Port Orange Mayor Allen Green to announce. “The (Wal-Mart) board made a decision it’s not in their best interest to pursue it,” the Mayor said. “They did not say definitely what they’re going to do.” Thus ended two years of work on the part of the city. The Mayor added, “They were trying to fit way too much on that piece of property.” On March 26th Wal-Mart sent a note to the city asking that their the site plan applications be sent back to the city’s Planning Commission. “We continue to examine various options for addressing the City’s concerns, and we are now in the process of significantly revising the proposed development plans,” the letter stated.
The original 128,000 s.f. superstore appears to be dead, because a company spokesman said that Wal-Mart might put a Neighborhood Market in the city instead, which would be ‘only’ 53,000 s.f.---less than half the size of the superstore. The supercenter squeeze was great news for local residents who had fought the 24/7 superstore. Residents said such a store would increase crime in the area. Port Orange’s Director of Community Development told the News-Journal that the plans for the area now include much smaller stores. “It’s a major change to go to a smaller store with out-parcels,” he said. “It’s almost like going back to the drawing board.”
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Posted by Al Norman on Monday, June 23 | 0 comments | Permalink
NMHC’s Walkable Communities Toolkit
Urban planning is a major part of building sustainable communities, and a new toolkit from National Multi Housing Coalition (NMHC) will help planners and residents work together to create walkable communities. As NMHC president Doug Bibby explains, “In many communities, sprawling suburban style development has been the rule for so long that their leaders don’t know the best way to create walkable, human-scale neighborhoods.” The toolkit offers case studies, policy tips and guidelines for those interested in planning walkable communities.
Wal-Mart is a huge part of this. As we’ve said before on this blog, the retailer depends on urban sprawl in a number of ways, and walkable communities are a huge threat to its business model. They’re also one of the most sustainable ways to build, something which Wal-Mart rarely acknowledges in its green messaging. NMHC has a ton more info - and links to other reports - on their website.
Demand for walkable, compact development is at an all-time high thanks to rising fuel costs, changing lifestyles and pressure to manage growth. To help communities across the country meet this demand, the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) and the Urban Land Institute have partnered to produce a new toolkit publication, Getting Density Right: Tools for Creating Vibrant Compact Development.
“Just five years ago, ‘density’ was a four-letter word,” said NMHC President Doug Bibby. “Now, though, consumers are embracing more urban lifestyles—from walkable villages to full-fledged city living. And local officials, under pressure to manage growth, are eager to deliver the compact development people are clamoring for.”
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Posted by Enviro. Team on Monday, June 16 | 0 comments | Permalink
Legal Blog: Florida Woman Fights Discrimination
Wal-Mart has, unsurprisingly, been the target of more lawsuits that one can count over the years. The company’s treatment of it workers and “save money at all costs” mentality has resulted in a flood of legal challenges ranging from single plaintiff suits to multi-million dollar class actions. Dukes v. Wal-Mart is of course one large example (the largest class action in American history, actually), as are the myriad wage/hour/overtime class actions the company faces.
Just as important as those large class actions, however, are the countless suits filed by individual plaintiffs – the tiny David trying to win justice over Wal-Mart’s Goliath. We at Wal-Mart Watch will be focusing on one of these stories each week, highlighting those cases that warrant further attention because of the light each sheds in its own way on how Wal-Mart does business.
Tenna Hopkins was hired by Wal-Mart as an associate way back in 1984 – the year the Russians and others boycotted the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles;” the year the Space Shuttle Discovery made its inaugural flight; the year the first Apple Macintosh went on sale. On August 21, 2006, 22 years later, Tenna Hopkins was a store manager at a Wal-Mart Store in Daytona Beach, Florida. On August 22, 2006, Tenna Hopkins was out of a job.
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Posted by Corey Himrod on Friday, June 13 | 5 comments | Permalink
Eduardo Castro-Wright to address gathering of mayors
Eduardo Castro-Wright has been invited to speak at a gathering of mayors in Florida next week. Castro-Wright will undoubtedly extol the benefits of bringing Wal-Mart to your town, signing on high the praises of a retailer known to lower median wages, eradicate local businesses and scrimp on paying taxes. To the City of Miami and the Mayors’ Hemispheric Forum: why don’t you all skip the Wal-Mart speech and spend some time talking about sustainable business practices instead?
Miami Mayor Manny Diaz will convene the third Mayors’ Hemispheric Forum on June 19 and 20, 2008, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Downtown Miami.
For the first time ever, this unparalleled gathering of urban mayors of the Americas will be held in conjunction with the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) annual meeting, bringing together almost 300 municipal government leaders. Mayor Diaz will assume the Presidency of the USCM at the organization’s annual meeting.
At the Forum, a diverse and notable group of mayors from Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada, and the United States will share successful models to reduce poverty and exchange innovative ideas on energy reform, infrastructure, and digital literacy in a Microsoft sponsored session. A key part of the discussion will center on how cities can invest in sustainable development to elevate their global competitiveness.
Forum participants include the mayors of Bogota, Medellin, Mexico City, Monterrey, Chacao (Caracas), Port-au-Prince, Santo Domingo, Lima, and Toronto, among others.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, June 13 | 13 comments | Permalink
WAL-MART CLOSING Could Put 300 EMPLOYEES OUT OF WORK in Levy, AR
No smiley faces at Levy Wal-Mart [Dogtown Wire (Ark.)]
The new Wal-Mart Supercenter is close to opening in Sherwood, which means the Levy store No. 7 will soon be closing. KTHV’s video features Wal-Mart Senior Manager Public Relations Laurie Smalling touting higher gas prices and the store’s low priced goods as one reason the new store will benefit customers.
The report claims the Sherwood store will bring 300 jobs to Pulaski County, but it doesn’t say if this 300 reflects those jobs to be lost at Levy that would constitute a simple lateral move and not a true increase of 300.
It didn’t mention if workers in Levy have been transferred to Sherwood. KTHV requires a membership to view this video and to comment on its site. The lone posting was a negative promise not to shop at the retail giant and a lament on the loss of mom and pop stores.
Posted by Joel Nezianya on Wednesday, June 11 | 0 comments | Permalink
WAL-MART WANTS TO MOVE 200 YEAR-OLD HOUSE TO MAKE ROOM FOR SHOPPING CENTER in Ballentine, S.C.
Wal-Mart gives $50,000 to move historic house [The State (S.C.)]
Wal-Mart has donated $50,000 to help with the moving and restoration of a historic house on the site of a future shopping center in the Ballentine area.
The funds will help the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation save the Lindler house, which dates to the late 1700s. Palmetto Trust also got a $35,000 grant from the Richland County Conservation Commission.
Wal-Mart will be the major tenant of the shopping center being built by Bright-Meyers Development. Bright-Meyers agreed to donate the house and one-fifth acre of land to Palmetto Trust, but the house needed to be moved about 60 feet to make room for the shopping center entrance.
Posted by Joel Nezianya on Wednesday, June 11 | 0 comments | Permalink
HEARING OVER WAL-MART’S CONTROVERSIAL PLAN TO DRAIN WETLANDS IN LADY’S ISLAND, S.C.
Public hearing scheduled for Wal-Mart wetland plan [Beaufort Gazette (S.C.)]
A public hearing to address Wal-Mart’s plan to fill in wetlands on Lady’s Island where the retail chain had hoped to build a 195,000-square-foot store has been scheduled for 6 p.m. June 25 at Lady’s Island Middle School.
The retailer on May 16 applied to the state Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for permission to fill in 0.39 acre of critical-area wetlands.
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Posted by Joel Nezianya on Wednesday, June 11 | 0 comments | Permalink
On the ground in Fayetteville, AR.
More photos from northwest Arkansas, courtesy of your on-the-ground bloggers. For commentary and more photos, check out our Flick stream here.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Thursday, June 05 | 0 comments | Permalink
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