CONTROVERSY HALTS WAL-MART CONSTRUCTION IN ONTARIO, CA
Building officials halt demolition at future Wal-Mart site [Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Calif.)]
Work crews tearing down old signs on the site slated for a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Ontario were ordered to stop Tuesday but continued into Wednesday until building officials told them to stop again.
Dale Briggs, an Ontario resident opposed to the store approved for Mountain Avenue and Fifth Street, spoke of demolition on the site without proper permits at the City Council meeting Tuesday.
“Wal-Mart has a history of not following the rules,” Briggs said in public comments. “Wal-Mart is the 700-pound gorilla.”
Aaron Rios, spokesman for Wal-Mart Stores, did not return calls for comment Wednesday.
Kevin Shear, Ontario building official, said his department started getting calls Monday about action on the site where abandoned buildings still stand that once held a Target, Toys “R” Us and Food 4 Less.
Building department records show permits were issued in 2005 to demolish the buildings, but they had expired in 2006 after no demolition occurred.
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Posted by Joel Nezianya on Thursday, June 19 | 0 comments | Permalink
WAL-MART HEARING POSTPONED IN RIALTO, CA
Rialto Wal-Mart Supercenter proposal postponed [Press Enterprise (Calif.)]
A Wal-Mart Supercenter proposed for a long-vacant corner lot, where it would anchor a 25-acre shopping center north of Interstate 10, was slated to be up for approval at tonight’s Rialto City Council meeting.
However, on Monday afternoon Rialto officials learned that legal notices had not been published in newspapers, as is required, and therefore the City Council would not be allowed to vote on the matter tonight, said Mike Story, the city’s development director.
It was not clear Monday whether the council would take public testimony about the project during tonight’s meeting. City officials advised Wal-Mart attorneys about the glitch, and company representatives likely will request the City Council to postpone the matter until July 1, Story said.
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Posted by Joel Nezianya on Tuesday, June 17 | 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
WAL-MART EYES SOLEDAD, CA
SOLEDAD: Wal-Mart has eye on Soledad [The Salinas Californian]
The fast-growing city of Soledad wants to expand its retail base giving residents more opportunities for work and shopping.
After negotiations between Target stores and Soledad officials fell through earlier this year, developers are seeking Wal-Mart as a possible anchor store at the proposed Soledad Plaza Shopping Center, slated to be built at San Vicente Road and Front Street.
If approved, the proposal could replace what’s now a 45-acre lettuce field with a 215,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Superstore, similar to one in Gilroy, by summer 2009.
Not all residents are pleased with the prospect of a super Wal-Mart coming to town.
In a letter to the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, former Soledad Mayor Jack Franscioni said the impacts of building such a large store need to be carefully examined.
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Posted by Joel Nezianya on Monday, June 16 | 0 comments | Permalink
PLANNING COMMISSION OK’S WAL-MART FOOTPRINT IN PAHRUMP, NV
RPC OKs map for new Wal-Mart [Pahrump Valley Times (Nev.)]
A new 175,000-square-foot Wal-Mart store on the east side of Highway 160 between Irene and Adkisson streets was part of a tentative subdivision map approved by the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission Wednesday.
The subdivision, measuring 57.7 acres, will encompass a 300,000-square-foot shopping center.
Brad Jones, project manager for Nigro Development, confirmed Thursday the un-named anchor tenant mentioned in the application will be a new Wal-Mart store but provided few other details.
The fifth anniversary of the grand opening of the existing Wal-Mart store at 300 S. Highway 160 was May 21. That store, measuring 155,000 square feet, was the smallest of two new Wal-Mart stores that opened in Southern Nevada that same day, the Pahrump Valley Times reported.
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Posted by Joel Nezianya on Monday, June 16 | 0 comments | Permalink
RESIDENTS WEIGH IN ON WAL-MART’S DAMAGING EFFECT IN YUCCA VALLEY, CA
Guest Soapbox: Wal-Mart Supercenter a badly done deal [Hi-Desert Star (Calif.)]
In 1992, a newly incorporated Yucca Valley town welcomed Wal-Mart with a gift of a million dollars and a look the other way as 468 Joshua trees were bladed down. This new store on the east edge of town and the first Gulf War ended many local businesses. Another war and maybe another Wal-Mart Supercenter on the east edge of town will bring much more sacrifice from the Yucca Valley business community. The Town Council soon decides if the Morongo Basin needs to serve this global giant from Arkansas. The Surrender Monkeys to Development at any cost say yes. The people who have considered the trade in local jobs, business loss and social damage say no.
The proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter is about 180,000 square feet with the grocery portion taking 60,000 square feet. That leaves 120,000 square feet for the non-grocery retail, which is 10,000 square feet or 8 percent more than the old Wal-Mart. Although that increase doesn’t match all the hype of Wal-Mart’s needed extra room, the grocery portion is the part that does the damage. Wal-Mart wants it customers that normally visit two to three times a month as a Wal-Mart to increase their visitation to two to three times a week as a Wal-Mart Supercenter. The resulting 400 percent visit increase captures even more non-grocery retail. This grocery outlet becomes a “Loss Leader” and Wal-Mart will subsidize its damage till Yucca Valley loses two grocery stores and a number of assorted retail businesses. Wal-Mart is about its sustainability, not Yucca Valley’s or the Morongo Basin’s.On May 22, the Town Council received more timely information about Wal-Mart Supercenter’s environmental impact report. Hundreds of pages of studies, reports and memos in PDF form and hard copy. We, as the Morongo Basin Conservation Association (MBCA), got permission to put this information on our Web site, http://www.mbconservation.org. Dr. Philip King’s memo on the urban decay of Yucca Valley exposes the impacts this project would have on retail demand, a glut of vacant retail space and the predatory grocery sales of Wal-Mart. The other reports re-affirm the increase in crime, traffic and social ills that this Wal-Mart Supercenter presents to Yucca Valley.
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Posted by Joel Nezianya on Monday, June 16 | 0 comments | Permalink
Atascadero, CA. Residents Reach Signature Goal To Put Size Cap On Ballot
This week, a voter initiative petition designed to prevent big box stores in Atascadero, California gathered the necessary 1,511 signatures to be presented to the city council. On June 24th, the City Council could vote to adopt the initiative as part of the city’s ordinance, or they could vote to put the measure on the November 4, 2008 ballot. The council could also ask for a study to examine the impact of the measure, before taking any further action. Since July 6, 2006, Sprawl-Busters has written 9 articles about Atascadero, California’s battle against a Wal-Mart supercenter. For two years, Wal-Mart has generated nothing but controversy. On October 30, 2007, Sprawl-Busters reported that the City Council in Atascadero had voted 4-1 to require city staff to stop processing a Wal-Mart proposal for a 195,000 s.f. store on Del Rio Road.
Then-Mayor George Luna said at the time that continuing the review process would only prolong the inevitable defeat of the proposal. “I don’t see the reason for getting more information on a store I would never vote for,” the Mayor told the media. The city’s General Plan has a limit of 150,000 s.f. for big box stores—but the zoning ordinance has no such limit.
On December 18, 2007 local residents filed an initiative petition entitled “Taxpayers’ Initiative Ordinance To Reduce Costly Effects Of High Intensity Urban Development By Preserving Atascadero’s Unique Small Town Character.” According to the group Oppose Wal-Mart, the measure will ask the voters to amend the Atascadero Zoning Ordinances to approve a maximum limitation (cap) of 150,000 s.f. on the size of any single big box commercial structure and prohibit discount superstores in all zoning districts of the city.
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Posted by Al Norman on Monday, June 16 | 0 comments | Permalink
DISTRIBUTION CENTER GETS APPROVAL IN BARSTOW, CA
Planning Commission approves Wal-Mart Distribution Center [Victorville Daily Press (Calif.)]
Expressing excitement for an influx of jobs to the area, the Barstow Planning Commission unanimously moved the proposed Wal-Mart Distribution Center on Lenwood Road Monday night to the City Council last night.
“This is a great contribution to the community,” said Planning Commissioner Carmen Hernandez at the meeting. “It’s been a long, long time since we had jobs come in that amount.”
The center would bring about 500 new jobs to area during the first years of operation and between 800 and 900 jobs about two years later, said John Mendez, a spokesman for Wal-Mart who is working on the Barstow project. Mendez said the jobs would be high quality with an average hourly rate in the high teens.
The commissioners voted to recommend that the City Council approve the project at a meeting in July.
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Posted by Joel Nezianya on Thursday, June 12 | 0 comments | Permalink
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