Kenai, AK. Supercenter on the Way
Wal-Mart inks deal [Penninsula Clarion (Ala.)
Sought after by some cities and shunned by others, retail giant Wal-Mart on Monday signed closing documents and agreed to wire $3.75 million into the city of Kenai’s account for the purchase of airport reserve land.
Nearly two years in the works, the completed agreement sets the stage for a planned 210,799 square-foot super store to be built behind the Kenai Chrysler Center on the Kenai Spur Highway.
Kenai City Manager Rick Koch, City Attorney Cary Graves and City Clerk Carol Freas were in a Kenai title company office early Monday morning to sign closing documents.
The final selling price is for 38.224 acres of airport reserve land, Koch said.
Proceeds from the sale will be deposited into the airport land fund, also referred to as the airport permanent fund, he said.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Wednesday, May 07 | 0 comments | Permalink
Cornelius, OR. Wal-Mart Puts Another Superstore On Ice
It’s springtime in Cornelius, Oregon, but the proposed Wal-Mart supercenter is a cold as ice. On August 6, 2005, Sprawl-Busters reported that after being rejected in Hillsboro, Oregon, in Washington County, the retailer, and its developer, PACLand, had turned its gaze to Cornelius.
Wal-Mart’s proposal started out as a 204,278 s.f. superstore on 16 acres of land. A citizen’s group, Cornelius First was formed to fight the proposal. At the time, the President of the Cornelius Chamber of Commerce told the Oregonian newspaper, “I really feel that we have sufficient of that type of business. We need more of a small-town flavor.” The project hearings began in December of 2005. PACLand, the developer, asked the city to rezone a portion of residential land to commercial. The Cornelius City Council by one vote approved a comprehensive land use plan amendment in February, 2006. Cornelius First appealed the city’s approval to the State Land Use Board of Appeals. Traffic was a major concern at the site.
Wal-Mart’s developer estimated less than 6,800 car trips to the store, which was clearly a self-serving figure in the absence of a independent study. Wal-Mart offered about 10% of the funding needed to improve the intersection near its proposed store---but state taxpayers would have to foot the balance of at least $1 million. One opponent told The Argus newspaper, “It appears to me the Cornelius mayor is on the fast track for approval. I don’t think he takes into account Wal-Mart’s potential negative impacts on his community.” In September of 2006, the LUBA ruled against the residents. Wal-Mart said it would break ground as early as January, 2007. Cornelius First argued to the LUBA that the City Council did not address how a Wal-Mart could cause traffic problems and threaten the surrounding neighborhood and city’s economy. The board dismissed those arguments largely on technicalities.
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Posted by Al Norman on Wednesday, May 07 | 0 comments | Permalink
Cornelius, OR. Wal-Mart Delayed
Cornelius Wal-Mart opening not expected until 2010 [The Oregonian]
Wal-Mart fans will have to wait another couple of years for a store to open in Cornelius, said Richard Meyer, the city’s director of development and operations.
After downsizing its Cornelius building plans from 184,000 to 154,000 square feet in February, Wal-Mart has not yet resubmitted its new construction plans to the city for approval.
Meyer said he expects the plans by fall and that company officials say they want to be ready to bid out the plans next spring, in 2009. With construction generally taking 12 to 15 months, that would put a grand opening in 2010.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Jennifer Spall said in February that a sluggish business climate prompted Wal-Mart to reanalyze its planned stores last summer, canceling some and downsizing others.
The Cornelius Wal-Mart, approved by the City Council in early 2006, is to be built at Adair Street and Fourth Avenue. It will sell grocery items and general merchandise, and will offer roughly 200 jobs.
It would be Washington County’s first Wal-Mart.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, May 06 | 0 comments | Permalink
Medford, OR. Traffic Concerns Continue
Wal-Mart traffic plan debate to be continued [Mail Tribune (Ore.)]
Wal-Mart’s quest to build a Medford supercenter will head back to the city’s Site Plan and Architectural Commission for a public hearing, the City Council decided late Thursday.
Members of a local citizens group, Citizens for Responsible Development, had turned out Thursday for a public hearing scheduled on the issue. They expected to demand the city require Wal-Mart to complete a comprehensive traffic study before building its supercenter at the former Miles Field site along Highway 99 in south Medford.
But the council did not open the public hearing, so neither Wal-Mart representatives nor opponents had a chance to speak.
Instead, the council voted to have a full evidentiary hearing during the SPAC meeting, said City Recorder Glenda Owens.
Shareen Vogel, spokeswoman for the citizens group, said she didn’t mind that no one was allowed to speak to the council Thursday night.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, May 05 | 0 comments | Permalink
Vallejo, CA. Op-Ed: Council Not To Blame for Wal-Mart Pull Out
Wal-Mart: Council not at fault [Times Herald (Calif.)]
I would like to thank Michael Wilson for his questions of the treasury report at a recent city council meeting. While I may disagree with Councilmember Wilson on certain issues facing the city, I wholeheartedly agree with his position on city investments in Wal-Mart.
Many uninformed citizens think that Wal-Mart has not opened in the city of Vallejo because of council actions. On the contrary, Wal-Mart has had ap-proval of the council to proceed with their project since November of 2006. They have had a negotiated agreement for an EIR consultant since last June. They have not gone forward with their project for reasons that are unknown to the residents of Vallejo.
Councilmember Wilson asked staff at the meeting if it was wise to invest in a company that has abandoned Vallejo and hurt our already precarious finances. I would add to the council member’s concerns and ask if it is wise that we invest in a company that is trying to strangle our growth and hold us hostage. Wal-Mart’s delays have hurt our chances with other retailers. If you add in the costs of Wal-Mart’s delaying tactics with the subsidies they require for their employees, then I would think it extremely unwise to invest in this company.
I ask other council members to join Councilmember Wilson and draft rules that withdraw city funds from companies that damage our local economy. Let us put our investments in companies that help Vallejo, pay living wages and benefits, hire locally and improve our community. We will all be richer for this.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, May 02 | 0 comments | Permalink
Medford, OR. Wal-Mart Not Giving Up
Wal-Mart revises store proposal over traffic concerns [KDRV-TV (Ore.)]
The proposal for a new super Wal-Mart in Medford is being revised. On Thursday the company announced it is trimming the size of the store in response to debate over traffic concerns. The new store is planned to go in on an empty lot next to the Medford Armory.
The Medford Citizens for Responsible Development demanded a traffic study for the proposal. Wal-Mart made some changes in an effort to respond to citizen’s concerns. Those changes were discussed at a city council meeting on Thursday.
The new plan calls for a reduction in the overall square footage of the project. It is down from 200,000 square feet to about 175,000. A tire center will no longer be a part of the store. The front of the store will face south instead of east along Highway 99.
Wal-Mart says the amount the company is willing to pay for street upgrades depends on what changes are required in a final plan. At that point, both the city of Medford and Wal-Mart will share the costs.
MRCD says that area has some of the city’s heaviest traffic loads.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, May 02 | 0 comments | Permalink
More Overtime Woes for Wal-Mart
In an unpublished opinion, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says a trial court erred when it refused to allow assistant managers at Wal-Mart to present their case as a class action suit.
Assistant managers at Wal-Mart stores in California are suing Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for not paying them overtime, contending that they perform the work of employees who would normally get overtime. The lawsuit, Sepulveda v. Wal-Mart, claims that Wal-Mart improperly classified 2,750 current and former employees as managers, which are exempt from California’s wage and hour laws. Assistant Managers in CA regularly work 52 hour weeks, and can work up to 80 hour weeks during busy seasons, but receive no overtime and rarely receive uninterrupted breaks.
Wal-Mart employees win reversal of ruling on group lawsuit
April 29 (Bloomberg)—Wal-Mart Stores Inc. assistant managers in California won the reversal of a ruling barring them from suing as a group on claims they were denied overtime pay and meal breaks.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said a lower court erred when it refused to grant the workers’ request to proceed with a class-action, or group, lawsuit because many included in the proposed group had already left the company. The workers claim in the lawsuit that Wal-Mart improperly classified 2,750 current and former employees as managers, who aren’t eligible for overtime pay.
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Posted by Corey Himrod on Tuesday, April 29 | 4 comments | Permalink
Medford, OR. Wal-Mart Tries Again
Wal-Mart returns [Mail Tribune (Ore.)]
With modified plans in hand, proponents of a Wal-Mart Supercenter project will address the Medford City Council Thursday. This time, members of a citizens group may also get to have their say.
The Wal-Mart plan has been stalled by a legal challenge over whether a citizens’ group had proper opportunity to comment on the company’s plans.
The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals ruled in September that the city erred in barring the group from speaking in a November 2005 public hearing.
Two-and-a-half years later, Wal-Mart will return with a plan that calls for a reduction in the overall square footage and for the front of the store to face south instead of east.
“It will still be a Supercenter,” Jennifer Spall, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said Monday.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, April 29 | 0 comments | Permalink
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