Atascadero, CA. Wal-Mart Plan Defeated
Wal-Mart defeated by Atascadero City Council [San Luis Obispo Tribune]
Wal-Mart and developer The Rottman Group could move closer to a ballot initiative after tonight’s defeat before the Atascadero City Council.
The council debated for 90 minutes before voting 4-1 to order staffers to shelve the companies’ applications for a 195,000-square-foot Supercenter and adjacent shopping center at Del Rio Road and El Camino Real. Councilman Tom O’Malley dissented.
Mayor George Luna said he was concerned that the large-scale project exceeded the 150,000-square-foot limit spelled out for that corner in the city’s General Plan — Atascadero’s blueprint for regulating development.
Further studying the issue, Luna said, would merely delay what he said were council members’ inevitable votes. “I don’t see the reason getting more information on a store I would never vote for,” he said of the proposal before the council.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, October 30 | 0 comments | Permalink
Redlands, CA. Wal-Mart a Major Issue in Elections
Voters seek views on Wal-Mart [San Bernadino Sun]
The Wal-Mart issue has returned.
City Council candidates have said that while on the campaign trail, prospective voters want to know where they stand on a proposal that could bring a Wal-Mart Supercenter to north Redlands.
The prospect of a Supercenter also interested voters during the 2005 City Council campaign.
“I think that it’s an emotional company, and it’s stirred a reaction in people,” said candidate Jeff Sceranka, who is the president of a small business finance company.
Sceranka has declined to take a position on the proposed Wal-Mart during the campaign. Two years ago, many candidates were also reluctant to take a stand on a possible Supercenter.
There are seven candidates for two City Council seats. Sceranka and three other hopefuls have said that they are reserving judgment on the proposed Supercenter until an environmental analysis is published.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, October 30 | 0 comments | Permalink
Atascadero, CA. Wal-Mart Suffers Early Halloween Trick
It was an early trick or treat for Wal-Mart last night in Atascadero, California, but the giant retailer left without the candy. The City Council in Atascadero turned Wal-Mart’s coach into a pumpkin. After an hour and a half of discussion, the City Council voted 4-1 to require city staff to file away the retailer’s proposal to construct a 195,000 s.f. store on Del Rio Road. Sprawl-Busters first wrote about this super-battle in Atascadero on July 6, 2006. We reported that Wal-Mart had purchased 26 acres for a superstore, as part of a larger project submitted by the developer, The Rottman Group. This proposed store would have been the first Wal-Mart superstore on California’s Central Coast---a beautiful rural area often called the Middle Kingdom. The Rottman plan totals 335,000 s.f., a scale considered by many to be far too large for the city.
In an attempt to sway public opinion, Wal-Mart released a “survey” last August written and paid for by Wal-Mart and the developer, which said that 56% of the 301 voters polled wanted a Wal-Mart, 38% did not. From the outset, this project stirred up controversy, so much so that the developer described its project with this very defensive plea: “We recognize that there are many issues surrounding the possible location of a Wal-Mart in Atascadero. We are not ignoring public comment, but are asking residents to give Wal-Mart a chance to introduce itself, correct misconceptions and make a case for why it will benefit Atascadero.” Last night, however, Wal-Mart lost its chance. Atascadero Mayor George Luna said he was concerned that the Wal-Mart building exceeded the 150,000-s.f. limit contained in the city’s General Plan, which governs land use. The Mayor said that continuing the review process at this time would only prolong the inevitable defeat of the proposal. “I don’t see the reason getting more information on a store I would never vote for,” the Mayor told the San Luis Obispo Tribune News. The Council’s vote last night followed a lengthy hearing last week in which the council ultimately voted to delay their vote until October 29th. After the vote, a Wal-Mart spokesman told a TV interviewer, “This is clearly delay tactics that we have seen for the last 10 months. We are committed to our Central Coast customers in serving their needs. We will have to evaluate whether that will be in Atascadero or elsewhere.” The company told the newspaper, “We need to evaluate whether (the city) is working as openly with us as we are with them.
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Posted by Al Norman on Tuesday, October 30 | 0 comments | Permalink
Lodi, CA. Wal-Mart Would Damage Local Economy, Study Says
Wal-Mart report backs critics [Record (Calif.)]
Sacramento Street has long lagged behind in Lodi’s downtown renewal efforts, its string of boarded-up and deteriorating storefronts a familiar eyesore.
If economic forecasters are right, planting a behemoth Wal-Mart Supercenter in Lodi could mean the street stays that way a lot longer.
It could mean fewer Heidi Johnsons: small business owners willing to take a chance on the underdeveloped corridor. A recent study analyzing the potential economic impacts of a 226,868-square-foot Supercenter in Lodi says the mega-retailer could stunt downtown’s growth.
Court-ordered study
The Lodi City Council in 2005 approved plans for Wal-Mart Supercenter at Kettleman Lane and Lower Sacramento Road, replacing the city’s existing Wal-Mart store.Opponents sued, and a San Joaquin County Superior Court judge overturned the decision, ruling in part the city should have studied the shopping center’s impact on urban decay.
This economic study is part of that new court-ordered analysis, a draft of which was released earlier this month.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, October 29 | 0 comments | Permalink
Ontario, CA. Fight Not Over
Fight against Ontario Wal-Mart not over [Daily Bulletin (Calif.)]
I went for a bike ride a week ago Saturday, early in the morning, and as I whizzed around my neighborhood, I was grateful for the peace and quiet.
Glancing at the homes made me proud to live in northwest Ontario. Residents there have maintained their properties well.Fifth Street would soon come to life with school-aged children congregating in Munoz Park to play soccer, parents bustling to Ontario Plaza between games to get groceries, do other errands, and perhaps later take in the movies.
The area looks pretty much the way we intended when residents and city officials worked together to redevelop it some years ago.
The one spot that still needs development is the northwest corner of Fifth Street and Mountain Avenue. Wal-Mart bought that property a couple of years ago but has left the decaying buildings, perhaps with the hope that people would become so disgusted they’d gratefully welcome a 24-hour super store.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, October 29 | 0 comments | Permalink
Ventura, CA. Residents Organize To Put Superstore Ban On Ballot
Activists in Ventura, California say the foot-dragging has gone on long enough. On July 31, 2007, Sprawl-Busters reported that Wal-Mart had signed a lease on an existing K-Mart location in Ventura. Wal-Mart began talking with city planners two years ago about demolishing the Kmart store on Victoria Avenue and replacing it a 150,000 s.f. superstore with grass and a fountain in front, and with an underground parking lot. Wal-Mart has signed a lease on the Kmart store, but has not submitted a formal application. In March, 2007, the City Council in Ventura adopted a 20-year “smart growth” plan for a seven-block area along Victoria Avenue that calls for more offices and pedestrian-friendly development. The council passed an “urgency” ordinance on Victoria Avenue that requires a building greater than 50,000 s.f. to undergo a special review and a use permit.
City planners said that Wal-Mart appeared to be willing to meet the city’s new development guidelines, which would force the retailer to reduce the size of its store to a 60,000 s.f. maximum, and build it on two stories. But citizens have been pressing the city to pass an ordinance controlling big-box development. With all that body language by city officials, one would think that Wal-Mart would get the message and come back in with a much smaller project---or leave. But Wal-Mart doesn’t read body language.
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Posted by Al Norman on Monday, October 29 | 0 comments | Permalink
CALIFORNIA SITE FIGHT: RESIDENTS SPAR OVER PROPOSED WAL-MART
More than 500 people packed City Hall in Atascadero to voice their opinion on having a Wal-Mart as a potential neighbor.
America’s largest retailer wants to fund independent research on the impact of opening a new Supercenter in Atascadero, located at the Del Rio / El Camino Real intersection.
For Atascadero opponents and proponents to a new Wal-Mart Supercenter, bringing the retail giant to town is more than a game.
“I think we need to follow Paso’s suit and turn our town on by having some more retail here,” said Kelly Long of Atascadero.
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Posted by Michael Mignano on Friday, October 26 | 0 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Buys its Way into the Hearts of Politicians in Key States
Learn more about Wal-Mart’s political influence and other methods the company employs to roll back its taxes.
Wal-Mart Courts State Politicos [BusinessWeek]
Wal-Mart Stores has been sharply increasing political contributions in states where it is trying to cut its corporate tax bill. That’s according to data just released from the National Institute on Money in State Politics, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group based in Helena, Mont.
Over the past four election cycles, the retailing giant has ratcheted up contributions in nine states that are key to its operations: Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Its political contributions in those states rose from $139,822 in the 2000 election cycle to $879,441 in the 2006 election cycle, according to the institute. Wal-Mart’s efforts to reduce its corporate taxes in those states have come to light as a result of a lawsuit that the attorney general of North Carolina filed against the company to challenge its tax-cutting strategies.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, October 26 | 27 comments | Permalink
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