Garden Grove, CA. Wal-Mart Weed Pulled From the Garden
On July 20, 2007, Sprawl-Busters reported that a crowd estimated at 100 people turned out in Garden Grove, California to whack Wal-Mart’s weeds. A hearing before the city’s Planning Commission was called in response to the retailer’s proposal to build a two-story supercenter on Chapman Avenue. The proposal called for Wal-Mart to tear down an empty Von’s department store. The project’s environmental impact report was issued last June, concluding that the 173,000 s.f. store would have little impact on the environment or existing merchants. That report was written by consultants hired by Wal-Mart. But the neighbors were not impressed.
“We’re going to have trucks going up and down the street all times of day and night,” one neighbor told the Commission. This project has dragged on for a long time. As early as April of 2006, the United Food & Commercial Workers union staged a protest over this proposal right after Wal-Mart announced its plans. Now, a year and a half later, the retailer is leaving the Garden. According to a story in this week’s L.A. Times, Wal-Mart announced it is leaving Garden Grove without even digging in the soil-—just days before the city’s planners were going to vote on the proposal. “It was cruel the way they did it,” Garden Grove Councilman Bruce Broadwater told the newspaper. “They built people up and got the community really excited. Then they dropped the bomb on us and ran off.” The strip mall which Wal-Mart was slated to anchor, reportedly spent $2 million fixing up the center, and brought on new tenants. “You hear all these stories about Wal-Mart coming to towns and shutting other businesses down because of the competition,” said a spokesman for the mall’s owners. “Well, it’s just the opposite here. Wal-Mart not coming is going to cause a lot of these businesses to shut down, and it’s going to be impossible to lease any of these open spaces now. Businesses want to be next an anchor that brings the traffic into the center. Without an anchor, they’re dead.” Wal-Mart told the media, “As we reviewed this proposed opportunity, it no longer made financial sense for the company. The construction costs didn’t pan out for this specific project. We were doing everything in our power to make this work, but we’re continuing to look for more opportunities in Orange County.”
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Posted by Al Norman on Wednesday, November 07 | 0 comments | Permalink
Long Beach, CA. Big Box Ban To Be Overturned
A veto worth $500,000 [Long Beach (Calif.) Press Telegram]
Wal-Mart most probably never will build a superstore in Long Beach, but soon the company at least will have the satisfaction of knowing that it wouldn’t be illegal.
Mayor Bob Foster announced, two days in advance, that if the City Council votes today to go ahead with an election on the issue he will use his veto to block it. And it seems clear there wouldn’t be enough council votes to overturn his veto.
Taxpayers should relish the mayor’s logic: The city is strapped for money, and this is no time to be spending $500,000 on an unneeded election instead of useful services such as a second police helicopter, upgrading fire stations, stocking libraries, fixing streets and sidewalks or restoring recreation programs.
Foster said he can’t in good conscience support funding an election that has no immediate impact. (Actually, it has no practical purpose whatever. City Hall could easily block a superstore in the planning process without having to make it illegal to build one.)
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, November 06 | 0 comments | Permalink
Suisun City, CA. Wal-Mart Poses Threat to Air Force Base
A Wal-Mart superstore proposed for Suisun City is drawing the fire of critics who claim the massive store would violate the buffer zone surrounding Travis Air Force Base.
That violation could be used as a reason to close the base, according to Cress Vallucci. “You can’t have more than 300 people per acre, for obvious reasons. If something falls off a plane, like it did earlier this year, and falls into an area that’s densely populated, like the middle of the sales line at Walmart, there could be some major injuries or deaths,” he said.
Opponents also say the site’s environmental impact report underestimates the risks.
The project is still in the earliest stages. Suisun City’s Vice Mayor, Jane Day, said there hasn’t even been a formal presentation yet. “We are waiting until it comes in front of us in order to look at the pros and cons of anything,” she said.
Travis Air Force Base is the county’s largest employer.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, November 06 | 0 comments | Permalink
Suisun City, CA. Wal-Mart Proposal Up for Consideration
Hearing set on Wal-Mart’s Suisun bid [Vacaville (Calif.) Reporter]
The Solano County Airport Land Use Commission will hold a public hearing Thursday to consider endorsement of a proposed Wal-Mart Superstore on Walters Road in Suisun City.
The proposed project would include 230,000 square feet of commercial space including the 215,000-square foot Wal-Mart, plus a fuel station with mini-mart, an 8,000-square-foot sit-down restaurant or commercial use and parking on a 20.8-acre site at the northwest corner of Highway 12 and Walters Road.The commission will meet at 7 p.m. in the Solano County Government Center’s first-floor meeting room, 675 Texas St. in Fairfield.
The commission will consider whether or not the project is consistent with the Travis Air Force Base Land Use Compatibility Plan.
That plan sets guidelines for what can be built within a certain area around Travis, based on the potential impact the development could have on operations at the base.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, November 06 | 0 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Starts Using Battle-Mart Tactics
The “New England Customer Action Network” claims to be for the people...that is, for the people who are for Wal-Mart. The astroturf organization (run by Wal-Mart) is using grassroots organizing techniques to further the company’s cause in what has proven to be one of the most contentious areas of the country for the retailer. The company also created the “California Customer Action Network,” targeting activists in California where Wal-Mart faces site fights in several areas. The whole project reveals the fact that site fights have become a major issue for the retailer in its efforts to expand. Not only are more citizens working to fight the retailer, more and more often they’re winning. Visit our Battle-Mart blog to read more about fighting Wal-Mart, or our State and Local page to see what’s happening in your part of the country.
A human face on a big-box store [Boston Globe]
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is turning to customers for help in expanding its business in New England.
Over the last month, the retail giant has set up tables at many of its stores and invited customers to sign up for a New England Customer Action Network. The group is a sort of Wal-Mart defense league that can be tapped if the retailer faces local opposition to its expansion plans.
“If government officials try to limit your shopping choices, or prevent Wal-Mart from opening new stores or improving existing stores, Customer Action Network members can help by standing up for their rights,” said one flier. Company officials say more than 26,000 customers have signed up so far, 7,500 of them in Massachusetts.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, November 05 | 4 comments | Permalink
Atascadero, CA. Wal-Mart Stopped in its Tracks
After close to ten hours of public comment and council debate, the City of Atascadero takes a position on a proposed Wal-Mart.
America’s largest retailer pushed to fund an independent impact study on opening a new Supercenter in Atascadero, located at the Del Rio/El Camino intersection.
Residents of Atascadero were very vocal and very divided on the issue. Tonight, the council decided to put a stop to bringing the proposed Wal-Mart to town, for now.
“I’ve been overwhelmed with emails and phone calls on both sides,” said Mayor George Luna.
For the second time in as many weeks, people filled city council chambers in Atascadero to show their support for and against Wal-Mart.
“It’s rural character versus sales tax revenue,” said the Mayor.
Council members voted 4-1 against starting an environmental and economic review process that would have been the first step toward bringing a Wal-Mart Supercenter to town.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Wednesday, October 31 | 0 comments | Permalink
Ceres, CA. Doesn’t Need Another Wal-Mart
Op-Ed: No to another Wal-Mart in Ceres [Modesto Bee (Calif.)]
I work in Ceres and I would like to respond to “Ceres certainly needs more retail, but not more Wal-Marts” (Oct. 17, Page B-7). For me, Wal-Mart isn’t the holy grail of shopping. Wal-Mart almost sells all of what Ceres businesses had to offer before Wal-Mart came to town. Ceres certainly doesn’t need more of the same.
Especially distasteful to me is the notion of Wal-Mart’s new slogan “Save money, live better.” Is saving money the key to happiness? And who is living better — really? Certainly not Wal-Mart employees.
The perception of the “live better” slogan lies in grave contrast to the daily reports about how the Wal-Mart corporation abuses its authority and excuses itself from responsibility. As Americans, we never found it beneficial to allow corporations or any city to suppress its people.
I applaud all Wal-mart employees, vendors, and business partners, worldwide who have been courageous coming forward with their stories. Their accounts of Wal-Mart’s lack of concern for people and the environment, interfere with my support of the corporation. Nevertheless, I believe that many fine people shop and work at Wal-mart.
LIONEL BARRAGAN
Turlock
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, October 30 | 0 comments | Permalink
Ontario, CA. Appeals Process Continues
Wal-Mart appeal again continued [Daily Bulletin (Calif.)]
Despite expectations of its conclusion Tuesday night, the appeal hearing for a Wal-Mart Supercenter was once again continued.
In its third meeting to consider overturning the Planning Commission’s approval of the project at Fifth Street and Mountain Avenue, the City Council heard additional public comments and arguments for and against the development late into the evening.
The proposed project has evoked outrage from residents in the northwest of the city who live near the site and say the superstore would have detrimental impacts on the area.
After listening to about 30 comments from the public, of which a majority was in opposition to the project, the City Council prepared for deliberation. Then, shortly before 10 p.m., Planning Director Jerry Blum informed the Council that Cory Briggs, the representative for the appellant, had just handed a substantial amount of information to the City Clerk.
Council members agreed a timely decision was unlikely with a stack of roughly 3,000 pages of new evidence to digest; so another hearing was tentatively scheduled at 6 p.m. Nov. 13 at the Ontario Convention Center.
“We were given in literally the 11th hour a document dump of some 3,000 pages to consider in the decision-making process, which is documentation that could’ve been submitted at any time,” Mayor Paul Leon said after the hearing adjourned.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, October 30 | 0 comments | Permalink
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