1 Apr 2003

Taos, New Mexico, Votes to Keep Store Size Limit

by | Date: 1 Apr 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Cheers greeted the Taos, New Mexico, Town Council last month when members voted 3-2 to reject a proposal to allow construction of retail stores as large as 200,000 square feet. The vote reaffirms an ordinance adopted in 1999 that prohibits stores over 80,000 square feet. The issue has been hotly debated in this community of 7,000 for more than three months. It began when a handful of residents organized under the banner La Gente ("the people") and petitioned the Town Council to lift the store size limit.… Read More
1 Apr 2003

Big Box Proposal Tests Regional Planning in Pennsylvania

by | Date: 1 Apr 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Wal-Mart wants to build a 150,000-square-foot supercenter in Upper Hanover Township, a rural corner of Pennsylvania about one hour northwest of Philadelphia. The supercenter would anchor a large shopping complex, including twin strip malls on opposite sides of the highway. Two years ago, Wal-Mart would have needed no more than an okay from Upper Hanover officials to proceed.… Read More
1 Apr 2003

Missouri Coalitions Works to End Big Box Subsidies

by | Date: 1 Apr 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In Missouri, a coalition of independent businesses and union members are backing a bill that would reform the state’s tax increment financing (TIF) law and put an end to subsidies for suburban big box stores, shopping malls, and other sprawling developments. TIF allows a municipality to issue bonds to pay for part of the costs of a new development. Future tax revenue from the development is then diverted from the public coffers to pay off the bonds.… Read More
1 Apr 2003

Cincinnati Planning Department Abolished at Behest of Big Box Developer

by | Date: 1 Apr 2003 | posted in: Retail | 1 Facebooktwitterredditmail

In an effort to reduce a budget deficit and make the city more "developer friendly," in the words of Mayor Charles Luken, Cincinnati has abolished its planning department. Eight staff members and the remnants of the city’s planning activities have been transferred to the community development department. The department will carry out state-mandated functions, such as zoning and historic preservation. Planning will largely be subordinate to economic development. … Read More
1 Apr 2003

Iowa Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Activists, Against Wal-Mart

by | Date: 1 Apr 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Years of fighting a Wal-Mart supercenter slated for a flood plain in a rural area of Decorah, Iowa, have finally paid off for a tenacious group of residents and small business owners. On April 2, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the Decorah City Council acted illegally when it approved a Wal-Mart supercenter in the Upper Iowa River flood plain. … Read More
1 Feb 2003

Historic Georgia Community Fights Wal-Mart

by | Date: 1 Feb 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Two churches and a long-time resident of the historic Sandfly community near Savannah, Georgia, have sued city and county officials to block a proposed Wal-Mart supercenter. The lawsuit claims the officials violated planning and zoning laws in approving the development. Settled by slaves in the 1700s, Sandfly is one of the nation’s oldest African-American communities. Until recently, most homes is this tight-knit village were built by residents themselves with everyone in the community pitching in to help. … Read More
1 Feb 2003

Midcoast Maine Residents Oppose Coastal Home Depot

by | Date: 1 Feb 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Residents of the midcoast region of Maine are petitioning the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the US Coast Guard to deny permits to a planned Home Depot store in the town of Rockland. The 100,000-square-foot store is slated for a 24-acre site along the coast near Route 1. The project was approved by the Rockland Planning Commission in October. It still needs permits from the DEP, which is accepting public comment through February and is expected to issue a decision in March. … Read More
1 Feb 2003

McDonald’s Defeated in Oaxaca, Mexico

by | Date: 1 Feb 2003 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

Officials of Oaxaca, Mexico, have turned down an application by McDonald’s to open an outlet in a 500-year-old plaza at the center of town. "There are values that we have to preserve, such as our traditions and culture," city leader Gabino Cue Monteagudo said. A local ordinance allows local officials to reject development projects that endanger the city’s cultural heritage.… Read More

1 … 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 … 128