Hearing set on appeal of Wal-Mart expansion [Daily Triplicate (Calif.)]
An appeal of Planning Commission approval of Wal-Mart expansion will be the subject of a public hearing before the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
Ron Cole, on behalf of the Crescent City Heritage Coalition, appealed the Planning Commission’s June 4 decision to adopt an Environmental Impact Report for Wal-Mart’s expansion to a Supercenter.
The county planning department has recommended that the board deny the appeal and uphold the Planning Commission’s decision.
In Cole’s appeal letter, he stated the public brought up several issues, such as environmental concerns, traffic, global warming and urban decay, that were not fully addressed in the EIR.
“The level of detail in an EIR’s analysis must correspond to an impact’s severity and likelihood of occurrence,” Cole wrote.
He requested that supervisors decertify the EIR and send it back to the Planning Commission to have these issues further studied.
“Specifically, the EIR needs to trace cause and effect through anticipated economic and/or social changes from the Project to physical changes in the environment,” Cole wrote.
He also stated that because possible changes in the environment from the expansion were not adequately addressed in the EIR, it is not in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act.
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North Lauderdale: City wants Wal-Mart to speed building of store [Sun Sentinel (Fla.)]
City officials want a Super Wal-Mart, even if they have to go to Arkansas to get it.
The city plans to send a letter to Wal-Mart requesting a meeting with the company at their corporate headquarters. At a City Commission meeting last month, Mayor Jack Brady and City Manager Richard Sala both were authorized to attend.
Plans for the store on the south side of McNab Road have been in the works for about two years. Wal-Mart was slated to be the anchor for a proposed 43-acre Town Center with 36,000 square feet of retail space.
The city originally wanted Wal-Mart to find other tenants to fill the center, but after project delays and the economic downturn, Brady said the city needs the center built as soon as possible.
“If it sounds like we’re begging, we are,” he said. “We need the money. It’ll generate tax dollars.”
Posted by Tony Calero | Permalink
A 98,000 square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter in Shenandoah is still in the works even though a revised forecast from Wal-Mart in June said capital expenditures for fiscal year 2009 were lower than projected.
An earlier forecast predicted capital expenditures, funds used by a company to obtain or improve physical assets such as property, industrial buildings or equipment, to be in the $13.5 - $15.2 billion range. The revised forecast dropped that amount to $13-$14 billion.
“You’ve got to remember these things have long time lines,” said Wal-Mart Senior Manager of Public Affairs Ryan Horn. “The 2009 stores are stores that are breaking ground now; a couple years ahead of where we are in life cycle of the Shenandoah project.”
After years of speculation a Supercenter was coming to Shenandoah, it wasn’t until past winter that official word was released.
During the regular Shenandoah Elk Lodge #1122 meeting on Feb. 21, the lodge members approved a proposal from Wal-Mart for a land-for-land swap. The Supercenter would be located behind the Elks Lodge and O’Reilly Auto Parts on Highway 59.
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ASDA puzzled by wind turbine snub [Northampton Chronicle & Echo (U.K.)]
ASDA management say they are extremely disappointed not to have been given planning permission to build a 417ft wind turbine at the firm’s Brackmills distribution centre.
West Northamptonshire Development Corporation’s planning committee voted three to one to reject the application on Tuesday night, largely on the grounds it would not be safe to have a turbine so close to workers.Tom McGarry, property communications manager, said he was puzzled and deeply disappointed by the decision.
He said: “ASDA has been working very closely with the local planning officers and the community to construct a proposal offering Northamptonshire the opportunity of creating an iconic statement of its commitment to combat the threats posed by climate change.
“The wind turbine would have produced enough energy to power the ASDA distribution depot as well as saving 5,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases a year.”
But Tony Skirrow, chairman of Great Houghton Parish Council who had campaigned against the proposal said WNDC’s decision showed common sense was alive and well.
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Williams: No JEDD at Liberty Wal-Mart [The Vindicator (Ohio)]
While Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams wants a joint economic development district with Liberty at the site of a Wal-Mart Supercenter, the city will do absolutely nothing to impede the project.
Liberty trustees made it clear at a Tuesday meeting with Youngstown that they had no interest in a JEDD, which would include an income tax on employees, at the Wal-Mart location at the former Liberty Plaza on Belmont Avenue.
“Our questions were answered, and our issues were resolved,” Williams said Thursday. “...There will not be a JEDD at Wal-Mart. We want to move the project forward. We could have chosen to make an issue of the Wal-Mart JEDD. We did not. It was always our goal for the project to succeed.”
The city approved a water site plan Wednesday for the Liberty Wal-Mart project that is needed for the project to proceed, said John Casciano, Youngstown’s water commissioner. The city also has to approve a water tap application for Wal-Mart once the company submits one, but giving the go-ahead to that application is merely a formality, Casciano said.
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Wal-Mart extends land agreement [Spooner Advocate (Wisc.)]
Wal-Mart was granted yet more land sale extensions, its seventh and eighth, on Tuesday, July 15, by the Washburn County Board of Supervisors, extending by a year the deadline for purchasing 35 acres of county land for a proposed 100,000-square-foot Supercenter at the northwest corner of the Cty. Hwy. H and Hwy. 53 intersection in Spooner.
The Fortune 100 retailer, the largest retailer in the world, will pay $30,000 for each of the two six-month extensions. Wal-Mart’s current agreement with the county will expire Aug. 12.
Wal-Mart has asked for the extensions to give it enough time to finalize a developers agreement with the city of Spooner and to acquire all the permits it needs from the city, Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT), and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). A broker working with Wal-Mart said the permits from the DOT could take another three to six months to obtain.
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Wal-Mart reveals plans for store in Wawarsing [Times Record (N.Y.)]
Wal-Mart unveiled plans to the town this week for a 130,000-square-foot superstore on Route 209 with hopes to open in spring 2010.
The revelations came during a meeting with town officials Monday. The company called the meeting and showed up with architects, engineers and lawyers.
“They wanted a meet-and-greet,” said Supervisor Ed Jennings. “They brought some proposed plans. This is the first real concrete evidence that they are coming,”
Rumors have circulated furiously about plans for a Wal-Mart store in the former Ames plaza across from the state prison complex. It is owned by local developer Joe Tso. The sale price for the 20-acre site was $5.5 million, Tso has said. But until Monday, nothing had been put before the town, which will oversee the planning process.
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Wal-Mart seeking east-side support [Deseret News (Utah)]
About 36,000 households in east-side Salt Lake City neighborhoods have received mailers from Wal-Mart that seek support for turning a Kmart on Parleys Way into a Wal-Mart Supercenter.
The mailer has a return postcard that residents can send to The Summit Group, a local public-relations firm, voicing support for the supercenter proposed for 2705 E. Parleys Way. The postcard allows residents to request to receive more information about the store and to grant permission to use their names as supporters of the project. The mailers were sent out Friday and are the third wave of mailers in the past year from Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart has owned the Kmart property since February 2005 and wants to raze the 40-year-old building for what Wal-Mart describes as a larger, more modern and attractive space. But Wal-Mart first must persuade the Salt Lake City Planning Commission to change the area’s master plan and zoning to allow for a supercenter.
The commission last month listened to a presentation from developers and comments from the public but made no decisions.
Wal-Mart’s plans have angered some residents in the area, many of whom would prefer small businesses in the neighborhood and worry about traffic to the store, which is near the intersections of I-80, I-215, Foothill Boulevard, Parleys Way and Wilshire Drive.
The Sugar House, East Bench, Greater Avenues, Bonneville Hills, Wasatch Hollow, Sunnyside East and Yalecrest community councils have passed motions or resolutions opposing the rezone because it is not supported by the East Bench master plan. They also contend that the big-box store would increase traffic and harm local businesses.
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Development corporation subject to open meetings [Associated Press via Chicago Tribune]
The state Supreme Court rules a Beaver Dam economic group is subject to Wisconsin’s open meetings and records laws.
The court said Friday an entity is a quasi-governmental body and subject to those laws if it closely resembles a government corporation, but that a determination should be made on a case-by-case basis.
A citizens group has alleged the Beaver Dam Area Development Corporation negotiated secretly with Wal-Mart to bring a $55 million distribution center to the city.
The Supreme Court says the corporation is funded exclusively by tax dollars, its office was located in the municipal building, it was listed on the city’s Web site and the city gave the group clerical support and office supplies.
The court declined to punish the group, however. Attorneys for the group didn’t immediately return messages.
Posted by Joel Nezianya | Permalink
Editorial: We can supersize our expectations, starting now [Tracy Press (Calif.)]
With four hours of public comment at the City Council meeting last week, it would have been easy to miss the point a consultant made about aesthetics. At issue was the proposal for a Wal-Mart supercenter that would take Tracy’s existing 125,000-square-foot Wal-Mart and expand it to a 208,000-square-foot store, with 30,000 square feet for groceries.
Jim Watt, who represents a local shopping center that opposes the supercenter, asked the council to take a look at the “superior” architecture and design of the American Canyon Wal-Mart Supercenter, rather than settle for the stucco-and-brick façade of the existing Wal-Mart.
Near the end of the hearing, Wal-Mart attorney Miriam Montesinos tried to counter the consultant’s comment about the supercenter near Napa, one she described as a “gorgeous” store that made her proud.
“Tracy’s nothing like American Canyon,” she said, adamantly. “To point to another store in another community and say ‘You should do that’ goes completely contrary to Wal-Mart’s approach to design, which is to go to the community, drive around the community and try and pick up themes from other buildings that they see around the community.”
Mayor Brent Ives heard what both of them said and responded with a shake of the head to the Wal-Mart insult.
“If Wal-Mart hasn’t brought their top product to Tracy, then Wal-Mart needs to bring their top model to Tracy,” he said. “I’ve told every developer that’s come in here in the last five years — you bring us your best or you don’t bring it at all.”
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Wal-Mart, Home Depot in Niceville? [Northwest Florida Daily]
Happy Birthday, America!
Awhile back, we spoke with Pat Byrne, the man in charge at Valparaiso Realty. We spoke to him about his attempt to bring The Home Depot to Niceville. The Daily News had reported on this twice in the past.
Yes, Byrne said, there were workers clearing 11 acres of a 45-plus acre site, and he hoped one day The Home Depot would step past the letter-of-intent stage.
Then last week a faithful reader left us a phone message regarding a possible Wal-Mart coming to Niceville. So we called the city’s planning department and learned that Valparaiso Realty had secured preliminary permits for such a project.
Now, neither a letter of intent nor preliminary permits are a sure sign that a proposed project will happen. It’s way more complicated than that.
But last week (and yes, it was a holiday week) when we called Pat Byrne, we weren’t able to connect. So we don’t have an update on whether The Home Depot or Wal-Mart could end up just off John Sims Parkway in northeast Niceville.
This normally gets Tommy the Biz Terrier’s blood stirred up. But Tommy the Biz Editor has been around the block a few times. So he knows it’s best to remain patient.
For the time being, as his parents would say.
Posted by Joel Nezianya | Permalink
No Wal-Mart Along County Line Road [Hernando Today (Fla.)]
There will be no new Wal-Marts in Hernando County for a while.
That is the word from a regional spokeswoman for the retail giant.
“There’s nothing active in that area right now,” said Quenta Vettel.
She admitted Wal-Mart has been looking hard at areas to the southeast of Spring Hill - in Pasco County.
A new store will open soon at Land O’ Lakes, and Wesley Chapel remains a viable location, Vettel said.
“We’ve had a long-term interest in Pasco County, period,” she continued. “There are a lot of homes going up in there.”
Rumors have swirled that Wal-Mart was looking at the area along the south side of County Line Road, across from Spring Hill Regional Hospital in Seven Hills.
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Cobourg DBIA, Wal-Mart reach accord [Northumberland News (Canada)]
The Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) and Wal-Mart hope to prove that big and small business can coexist and prosper in Cobourg.
Wal-Mart recently approached Town council for approval on a 64,000 square foot expansion. The expansion would add 39,000 sq. ft. of grocery products, food display, preparation and cold storage and an extra 25,000 sq. ft. of non-food related retail space. The DBIA asked council to delay its decision until they could meet with Wal-Mart and discuss ways to coexist and work together. Those discussions have yielded two initiatives which the DBIA believes will work for both parties.
One plan will focus on the beautification of the downtown area, while the other will focus on marketing initiatives that will seek to entice visitors to downtown Cobourg. The DBIA plans to beautify the downtown by lighting all of the trees in the area, a project which will now be completed thanks to assistance from Wal-Mart and the Town. “We didn’t have the money for a big capital project like that, so we partnered with (them),” said Sue Dingsdale-Glover, chairwoman of the DBIA.
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Wal-Mart plans prototype store at Cordova site [Memphis Business Journal (Tenn.)]
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., is proposing to bring its newly branded store design to Cordova, potentially the first location for the mega-retailer’s new Supercenter prototype in Tennessee and one of a handful in the country. A new corporate logo will be featured on the facade of the proposed store at Macon and Houston Levee.
The new site plan for the Wal-Mart Supercenter will be presented to the Shelby County Land Use Control Board July 10. It was withdrawn from consideration earlier this year. The store has drawn opposition from neighbors and concerns from the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development.
Now, Wal-Mart planners have reduced the footprint of the store from 267,000 square feet to 151,908 square feet, according to a June 12 application submitted to the Office of Planning and Development. The 26.53-acre site includes five outparcels in addition to the superstore and 765 parking spaces, down from more than 1,000 proposed in late 2007.
The design of the store is a new prototype for the world’s largest retailer. So far, the prototype has been submitted to a handful of municipalities around the country, and the proposed Cordova store could become one of the first in the nation to don the new “look and feel,” says Dennis Alpert, senior manager of public affairs and government relations for Wal-Mart in Tennessee.
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Council defers Wal-Mart decision [Tillsonburg News (Canada)]
Tillsonburg council has followed the advice of Oxford’s planning department and deferred a decision on the application for a big new Wal-Mart store here.
In the application, SmartCentres, the applicant, is proposing a 250,000 sq. ft. development - including a 175,000 sq. ft. Wal-Mart store with a large food component - at Tillsonburg’s north end.
The application has been amended over the past year to go ahead in stages.
If approved, 2010 would see the opening of the 175,000 sq. ft. department store and 25,000 sq. ft. of ancillary retail and services. Another 50,000 sq. ft of ancillary uses would be opened over the next two years for a total of 75,000 sq. ft.
Also, the county’s peer reviewer of the SmartCentre studies, has recommended that non-food retail uses for ancillary pads be restricted to a maximum gross floor area of 3,500 sq. ft., and that financial institutions/banks, liquor stores, professional offices and other uses exclusive to the Central Commercial Zone (downtown) not be allowed as permitted uses on the site.
In their updated, supplementary planning report, Oxford planners cite two unresolved issues and recommended the application be deferred until these outstanding issues have been addressed.
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Wal-Mart plans to cut the size of its controversial store at Northcross Mall almost in half.
The retail giant already had city approval to build a 192,000-square-foot store on the site at Burnet Road and Anderson Lane. But now Wal-Mart says it will reduce the store’s footprint to 99,000 square feet as part of a nationwide reevaluation of its new stores.
The planned store will now be just one story instead of two and will have surface parking in lieu of a garage. Groceries will remain part of the merchandise mix but a garden center and auto shop will be eliminated in the new plan, a spokesperson says. The design aesthetic of the building will remain largely intact. Construction has not yet begun on the store since developer Lincoln Property Co. has been concentrating its attention on another portion of the site.
Since the plan was unveiled in late 2006, Lincoln Property Co., the group redeveloping the aging mall, and Wal-Mart have drawn fire from area residents who said the store would create tremendous traffic problems in the area among other issues. Several lawsuits were filed but none was successful in stopping the development.
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Wal-Mart changes its mind [Daytona News-Journal (Fla.)]
It won’t be super or smaller. Wal-Mart has decided not to build a store at Nova Road and Madeline Avenue, a company official said.
“The land will be put on the market,” said Quenta Vettel, a company spokeswoman who handles government relations in Central Florida.
It would have been the second Wal-Mart store in Port Orange.
The decision is part of a nationwide effort to reduce capital spending for fiscal 2009 amid a slowing U.S. economy, Vettel said.
Several stores planned in the Orlando, Tampa and other central Florida markets also have been cancelled.
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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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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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Official word: Wal-Mart isn’t closing local stores or building replacements [Southeast Missourian]
If you visit the Wal-Mart in Cape Girardeau, you’ll see a banner sign on the building seeking temporary help for a store remodeling job. The appearance of that sign intriqued me, so I called the Bentonville, Ark., headquarters of the world’s largest retailer. What I heard should, for now, put to rest rumors about the future of the Cape Girardeau and Jackson stores.
At least one alert reader has e-mailed recently me saying they heard that both stores would close in favor of a new, larger Wal-Mart at the new Interstate 55 interchange.
Carrie McKnight, a senior manager of public affairs for the retailing giant, assured me that no money would be spent on the store if there were plans to shut it down anytime soon.
The remodeling job isn’t unusual, she said. “Typically, every six or seven years we go in and remodel the stores,” she said.
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