LOCAL
NEWS
Gilbert ordinances
may ward off Wal-Mart
BY GREG SVELUND
TRIBUNE
9/20/02
Gilbert officials
may have found a way to stop the world’s largest retailer from squashing
the town’s longtime plans for a pedestrian-oriented town core.
The blow that may defeat Wal-Mart lies in a few paragraphs buried in a
1989 addition to the town’s decades-old zoning ordinance.
For months, town officials and residents have been looking for a way to
prevent Wal-Mart from building a super center on the southeast corner
of Gilbert and Warner roads, a stone’s throw from Town Hall and
across the street from several residential neighborhoods. For about 15
years, town officials and residents have envisioned the area developing
into a quaint, small-town core, complete with open space, outdoor plazas
and small-scale shops.
But up until now, it looked like there was nothing the town could do to
stop the retail giant from ruining those plans.
“In going back and researching the ordinances, we realized they
are very specific, saying (large retail or grocery stores) are not permitted
there,” senior planner Jim Cronk said.
“The ordinance is enforceable and has legal power.”
Wal-Mart is in escrow to purchase the property and submitted |pre-application
plans for the 185,000-square-foot superstore with the town in June.
In addition to banning those large retail structures, the ordinance calls
for large open spaces, outdoor plazas with connecting walkways, outdoor
cafes, covered patios and pedestrian paths around a centralized lake.
It calls for small-scale structures of different shapes and sizes, made
from indigenous materials such as brick, wooden beams and sloping tile
roofs.
And it calls for a town core of “small-town” and “small-scale”
pedestrian-oriented development.
Wal-Mart might be forced to apply for rezoning, Cronk said, a move that
would likely be appealed to the Town Council.
Town staff and leaders won’t directly say that Wal-Mart’s
proposal violates the zoning — they can’t until they see a
formal application — but all indications suggest that the current
code provides enough legal ammunition for the town to thwart plans for
the superstore.
“All I can say is they should read all the restrictions before they
go into escrow,” Mayor Steve Berman said.
The ordinance specifically calls for uses other than traditional retail
centers, Cronk said.
“The council adopted it, and it’s very clear that it applies
very specifically to that 40-acre piece of property,” Cronk said.
Wal-Mart zoning attorney Sean Lake said he did not know how the ordinances
would affect the proposal. Lake said he will meet with town planners in
the next few weeks to hear the town’s position on the ordinances.
Wal-Mart likely will submit a formal application in the next 30 days,
Lake said.
More than 100 residents attended a Wal-Mart meeting in August, many of
whom expressed anger and outrage after seeing initial site plans. A traffic
consultant hired by Wal-Mart said at the meeting that residents would
see traffic increase 25 percent if the store was built.
Since the meeting, “a steady stream of people” have contacted
the town to voice their opinions on Wal-Mart, Cronk said. In addition
to the more than 100 people who attended the meeting, about 65 more have
sought additional information about the proposal, Cronk said.
Without addressing Wal-Mart’s proposal specifically, Town Attorney
Susan Goodwin said “the requirements and guidelines in the ordinances
are clear enough to give a landowner a reasonable idea of what is expected
for that property.”
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Amy Hill has said the company hopes to have the store
built by 2004. —
Tribune writer Greg Svelund can be reached by e-mail at gsvelund@aztrib.com
or by calling (480) 898-6542.
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