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 Apr 2003

Shenandoah Valley Residents Fight Big Box Development

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Citizens in Front Royal, Virginia, a town of 13,000 in the Shenandoah Valley, are organizing to block a 184,000-square-foot Wal-Mart superstore. The development is slated for 121-acre tract of flood plain land bordering the south fork of the Shenandoah River. In order to proceed, Wal-Mart must convince the town to re-zone the land from residential to commercial. Residents have organized under the banner "Save Our Gateway" to fight the project. … Read More
1 Apr 2003

Independent Business Alliances Forms in Santa Fe

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Local businesses, nonprofit organization, and residents are uniting in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to bolster the local economy and build a more self-reliant community. The Santa Fe Independent Business Community Alliance (SFIBCA) formed in December and has already attracted more than 370 members. About 60 percent of the members are independent businesses supplying a broad range of goods and services: bookstores, pharmacies, banks, radio stations, auto repair shops, accountants, printers, builders, beauty salons, and physicians. … Read More
1 Feb 2003

Big Box Stores Drain City Revenue, Study Finds

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Big box retail, shopping centers, and fast-food restaurants cost taxpayers more than they produce in revenue, according to a fiscal impact analysis in Barnstable, Massachusetts. The study, conducted by Tischler & Associates, compares the tax revenue generated by different kinds of residential and commercial development with the actual cost of providing public services for each land use. Barnstable is a community of 48,000 people on Cape Cod.… Read More
1 Feb 2003

Wal-Mart’s Purchase of Puerto Rico Chain Challenged

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

Puerto Rico’s Department of Justice has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to block Wal-Mart’s acquisition of the island’s largest grocery store chain, Supermercados Amigo Inc. The outcome of the case could affect the ability of states to review and challenge mergers. Wal-Mart already operates 19 outlets in Puerto Rico, including eight Sam’s Club stores and one supercenter. … Read More
1 Feb 2003

Cape Cod Coalition Promotes Local Ownership

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"Now you know who really has your interests at heart," reads a recent advertisement in the Cape Cod Times that explains that a locally owned business returns a much larger share of its revenue to the local economy compared to an absentee-owned chain. The ad is part of a series of ads published in Cape Cod newspapers last fall by a new grassroots organization called the Smart Planning and Growth Coalition (SPGC).… Read More
1 Feb 2003

Taos, New Mexico, Battles Big Boxes… Again

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

Hundreds of citizens packed a Town Council meeting in Taos, New Mexico, in late January to voice their opposition to a proposed Wal-Mart supercenter. With the meeting room filled to capacity, many were forced to sit out the proceedings in other rooms, hallways, and even outside the building. More than 70 people testified against the development over a three-and-a-half hour period. Opponents wore green ribbons to identify themselves and presented a petition with 6,800 signatures.… Read More

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