Venice, CA. Wal-Mart Meets More Opposition
More challenges to Wal-Mart filed in Venice [Charlotte Sun-Herald (Calif.)]
It’s not about the proposed Wal-Mart or the planned hotel, say representatives of a group of Venetian Golf & River Club residents who filed two appeals. It’s about creating a mixed-use neighborhood versus a big box, regional shopping center.
Last week it was the Renaissance project developer who filed an appeal over a planning commission decision denying its Wal-Mart site plan.
Now it’s neighbors of the proposed 73-acre Renaissance project who are filing the appeals.
On Nov. 21 Marshall Happer turned in the appeals paperwork, along with a petition containing 183 signatures of residents who live in neighboring Venetian Golf & River Club on Laurel Road, and a check covering the $600 filing fee.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, December 04 | 0 comments | Permalink
Stockton,CA. Citizens Beat Wal-Mart Supercenter in Court
Because a local citizen’s group had the guts, the energy and the money to take on the world’s largest retailer, there will be no Wal-Mart supercenter in Stockton, California. After three years of battles, the citizen’s group finally had their moment in court this week. The Stockton Citizens for Sensible Planning beat Wal-Mart for the second time in court this week. On August 21, 2007, Sprawl-Busters reported that the City Council in Stockton, California had joined a growing number of communities in capping the size of certain big box retail stores. By a vote of 6-1, the City Council voted to prohibit stores that exceed 100,000 square feet and which contain full-size grocery stores. The ordinance exempts discount stores like Costco or Sam’s Club. There is one Wal-Mart superstore already in Stockton on East Hammer Lane, which will not be affected, because it is already open for business. But the Wal-Mart had a second superstore planed for the north side of Stockton, that was filed before the cap took effect.
When the city granted approval, the Stockton Citizens for Sensible Planning hired a lawyer and took the city to court. The citizens won in Superior Court on grounds that the city’s staff person had made procedural errors. Wal-Mart then appealed the Superior Court decision. Now, three months after Wal-Mart’s appeal, the courts have stopped Wal-Mart’s growth plans in Stockton. In a 2-1 decision, the Appeals Court upheld a San Joaquin County Superior Court ruling that the city of Stockton failed to follow state law in approving the development on a portion of Spanos Park West, being built by the Spanos Construction Co. After the environmental review for the project had been done, Spanos told the city it wanted to build a 207,000 s.f. Wal-Mart store on land that was zoned to be used for high-density residential development. The initial approval for the store in 2004 was based on a letter to Spanos from the city’s Community Development Department director. But the Superior court ruled that the letter from city staff was not sufficient under the state’s Environmental Quality Act, and that the proposed use change from a Mixed Use (MX) residential to a Wal Mart “superstore” was “a major change … that requires a discretionary act that triggers a CEQA review.” Wal-Mart then appealed the Superior Court ruling, and on November 28, 2007, the Third Appellate District Court wrote, “We shall conclude that the Director’s letter did not constitute an ‘approval’ of the Wal-Mart project. We also conclude that the Director’s letter did not constitute a determination by a ‘public agency’ since the director was not delegated and could not have been delegated authority to approve a project requiring environmental review.”
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Posted by Al Norman on Monday, December 03 | 0 comments | Permalink
Class Action Suit To Proceed In Washington
Attorneys in Washington are in the process of notifiying current and former Wal-Mart employees that they are part of a state-wide class action lawsuit against the retailer.
The case, Barnett v. Wal-Mart, was initially filed in King County Superior Court back in September of 2001 and is set for trial in the spring of 2009. In its notice released on Friday, the Seattle law firm of Tousley, Brain & Stephens, PLLC, said that while the case was originally certified as a class action in October of 2004, it has been on hold for over three years while Wal-Mart appealed the certification to both the State Court of Appeals and the Washington State Supreme Court. The State Supreme Court denied Wal-Mart’s request for review, paving the way for the case to head to trial.
The class now stands at over 75,000 current and former employees, though it is expected that some will opt out of the lawsuit over fears of retaliation from Wal-Mart. Wage & hour suits in California, Colorado and Pennsylvania have already cost Wal-Mart over $350 million dollars, and attorneys in Barnett have suggested that damages here could rise into the tens of millions of dollars as well. And as you can see here, there are plenty more on the way for a company apparently allergic to paying its employees for overtime, etc.
You can click here for more information on the lawsuit.
75,000 plaintiffs notified of Wal-Mart lawsuit [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]
Letters were set be mailed Friday telling 75,000 current or former Wal-Mart workers in Washington that they are plaintiffs in a statewide class action against the retail giant.
The mailing is the latest development in the suit, which was filed nearly six years ago in King County Superior Court.
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Posted by Corey Himrod on Monday, December 03 | 21 comments | Permalink
Ceres, CA. Wal-Mart Steals Land From Goddess of Agriculture
The City of Ceres, California is located in the central San Joaquin Valley, 80 miles south of Sacramento and 95 miles east of San Francisco. Named after the Roman goddess of agriculture, Ceres describes itself as “a growing community with a heartfelt commitment to retaining its small neighborhood personality.” This city of roughly 42,245 people has 4 Wal-Mart’s within 20 miles to choose from, including a 124,000 s.f. Wal-Mart store #1983 located on Mitchell Road. In early July, Wal-Mart unveiled a project that will forever change the “small neighborhood personality” of Ceres---a 208,000 s.f. superstore on the south side of town near Highway 99. The new Wal-Mart project would also be located on Mitchell Road---less than two miles from the existing Wal-Mart, in an area known as the Mitchell Ranch Center. The giant retailer has suggested that it will renovate its existing store---but the smart money says Wal-Mart will abandon the discount store—just as it did with stores at Rancho Cordova and Sacramento. “Our existing Ceres store is at capacity,” a Wal-Mart spokesman told the Modesto Bee. “This is a great opportunity to continue to serve our customers.” The city has hired an environmental consultant to review the plan. Ceres Mayor Anthony Cannella told the Bee, “This is a very long process and we’re only at the beginning.” Almost as soon as the store was announced, local residents began organizing to stop it. The following frontline report was submitted recently to Sprawl-Busters: “The Wal-Mart Corporation wants to build a second store, a supercenter, in Ceres, California. The proposal is controversial for a number of reasons, and the two stores would be located about 2 miles apart, both on Mitchell Road. Wal-Mart is intent on developing a 26.4-acre plot of land containing 16-plus acres of prime farmland. Approximately 15 acres would allow for 1,281 cars on a single-level parking lot. Some residents do not like the idea of a second store, especially a supercenter, in their small town because of the limited land available.
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Posted by Al Norman on Friday, November 30 | 0 comments | Permalink
Clark County, WA. Wal-Mart Appeals Denial
Wal-Mart appeals denial of store [The Columbian (Wash.)]
Wal-Mart will ask a Cowlitz County judge to find that Clark County’s commissioners took “arbitrary” and “illegal” action when they blocked plans for a proposed store in Salmon Creek.
Commissioners trumped up problems with the site under pressure from unhappy constituents, the nation’s top retailer argues.
So, Wal-Mart will continue to pursue the store by moving its lawsuit 40 miles up Interstate 5.
A spokeswoman said Monday that the company hopes to avoid the “political decisions” and “negative press” it sees in Clark County.
“We have a track record of having negative political decisions in Clark County,” said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Jennifer Spall.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Wednesday, November 28 | 0 comments | Permalink
Ontario, CA. Wal-Mart Gets OK’d
Wal-Mart Supercenter gets final OK [Daily Bulletin (Calif.)]
The City Council gave the green light to the Wal-Mart Supercenter at Mountain Avenue and Fifth Street in Ontario on Monday night.
The unanimous 4-to-0 vote brought a conclusion to several months of hearings and more than three years of controversy surrounding the proposed project in northwest Ontario.
“No matter what I say tonight, pro or con on this project, I’m going to lose some friends and probably that hurts the most,” said Mayor Paul Leon before adding his support of the superstore to that of his fellow council members.
Councilman Alan Wapner recused himself from the appeal hearings due to a conflict of interest.
Members of the council each shared his or her reasoning for upholding the Planning Commission’s August 30 approval of the superstore.
Most frequently cited during deliberations was that the issue at hand about land use, rather than crime, traffic, pollution or other concerns that had been raised by those opposed to the development.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, November 27 | 0 comments | Permalink
Bakersfield, CA. Wal-Mart Once Again On the Table
Wal-Mart stores back on agenda with new reports [Bakersfield Californian]
For the second time, two proposed Wal-Mart supercenters will go before the City Council for approval at Wednesday’s meeting.
If members give their OK, the projects would next be reviewed by a Kern County Superior Court judge. The judge would have to approve the council’s decision before construction could proceed, said Bruce Freeman, president of Castle & Cooke California. That process could take several months.
The council approved the projects in February 2003, but a lawsuit filed the next month by a group called Bakersfield Citizens for Local Control brought work to a halt.
A county judge agreed the city didn’t do enough environmental work on the projects. That suit went all the way to the 5th District Court of Appeal, which set aside city approvals.
One site is in the Gosford Village Shopping Center, on Gosford Road, between Pacheco and Harris roads. Castle & Cooke is developing that site.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, November 26 | 0 comments | Permalink
Suisun, CA. Wal-Mart Would be a Threat to Community Safety
Another view of Wal-Mart decision in Suisun [Vacaville Reporter (Calif.)]
Regarding the city of Suisun’s proposal for a big-box store near Travis Air Force Base: City staff made a presentation to the Airport Land Use Commission on Nov 8. As one member of the commission that heard the presentation, and after reading published comments that have been made, some things need to be cleared up.
The issue is simple. The proposed location is in the Travis traffic pattern (Zone C), and is restricted to uses that do not result in crowds of people that would be put at risk in the event of an aircraft mishap. A maximum of 300 persons per any single acre at any one time is one of the restrictions, and calculations must show any project will not exceed the limit (i.e., be found “inconsistent” with the Travis land use plan).
Last month, Solano County staff relied on expert information supplied by Suisun City and calculated that the project does not meet the safety standard. Staff advised the commission to reject the project. However, Suisun officials asked for a continuance to the Nov. 8 meeting and subsequently provided “new” information to be considered.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, November 26 | 0 comments | Permalink
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