City Beat: Petitioners extend Wal-Mart rezoning fight

Groups opposed to Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. building a Neighborhood Market in center city have successfully extended their battle against the megaretailer.

On March 25, a collection of citizen groups delivered a referendum petition with 2,370 signatures to the city clerk’s office. The petition opposes the Feb. 25 City Council decision to rezone roughly 6 acres at 444 W. Grand St. and 427–515 W. Normal St. to general retail from a residential district.

Should the city clerk certify at least 1,787 signatures – 10 percent of the registered voters who participated in the last general municipal election – the city charter states council would be obligated to repeal its decision or send the measure to voters.

Marla Marantz, a spokeswoman for the opposed groups and a member of Citizens Advocating for Responsible Development, said safety concerns are the No. 1 reason she believes the zoning should be repealed. She said the intersection is prone to heavy vehicle traffic, which would only increase with a 41,000-square-foot Walmart Neighborhood Market store.

“It is just too intense in that location for it to remain safe,” Marantz said, adding she hopes council repeals the measure. “It is my hope that council would take some time to reconsider its decision. I think it was a bit rushed. I think there was a lot of passion in the room. I hope that it will take a deep breath, and take a chance to re-examine the issue.”

On Feb. 25, council voted 5-4 in favor of the zoning changes that would allow Wal-Mart to build its fifth Neighborhood Market in town and 12th Springfield store, including two Sam’s Club wholesale locations.  

Erica Jones, senior manager of communications in public affairs and government relations for Wal-Mart, said in a statement to Springfield Business Journal the free market has demonstrated what the company can bring to a community.

“Unfortunately, some of the louder voices in this debate don’t represent the majority opinion. The customer voice is clear and demonstrated every time we open a new location, as thousands of local residents show their support by shopping our store. We believe this Neighborhood Market can be a solution to residents who want a job or access to fresh, affordable food,” Jones said in an email.

If the petitioners – organized under Stand up to Wal-Mart, Citizens Advocating for Responsible Development, Stop the Neighborhood Market Project and Save Calvary – receive the minimum number of verified signatures and council chooses to send the issue to a citywide vote, the zoning change would be put on hold until the next municipal election in August. The average cost of an election is $80,000 to $100,000.

“We would probably be inclined to send it to the voters,” Mayor Bob Stephens said. “That way, you’ve got more than 1,700 people weighing in on it; you’d have a cross-section of the population. There are more than 1,700 people that shop in a Wal-Mart on any given day. I think you have people who are hijacking a simple zoning issue for their own political purposes.”

He said if voters would overturn the rezoning measure, it would send a terrible message to businesses considering investments in the city.

“If that was the case, it would send a very chilling message to any business trying to locate in Springfield and bring jobs to Springfield in a time when we are trying to emerge from a recession,” Stephens said.

Fairgrounds refinance
City Council unanimously approved a pair of bills at the meeting allowing the city to issue $497,000 in special obligation bonds to refinance a construction loan on the Ozarks Empire Fairgrounds Center Hall.

The proposal, requested by the Agricultural and Mechanical Society of Springfield that manages the property, would shrink its $10,000 monthly lease payments, said Tom Kissee, president of the society’s board of directors, who spoke when the bills were introduced to council at its Feb. 25 meeting.

Springfield Finance Director Mary Mannix Decker said the interest rate on the bonds would be 3.75 percent, down from the current rate of 6 percent. Decker said the city submitted several proposals to area banks before Kansas-based Farmers Bank was selected to issue the bonds. She said only one local bank responded, and its proposal did not meet the terms of the request.

According to the new lease agreement approved by council, the Agricultural and Mechanical Society will pay an annual rental fee of $6,500 through October 2015, with $1,000 increases in the annual rate in five-year increments before rising to $9,500 October 2025–30 in addition to monthly lease payments. The agreement is effective April 1.

Jared CID on hold
Council tabled a proposal to create a community improvement district for the Country Club Plaza shopping center at Glenstone Avenue and Bennett Street at the request of the applicant, property manager Curtis Jared of Jared Enterprises.

Three council members were not present, and councilwoman Jan Fisk plans to recuse herself from the vote because Fisk Properties LLC owns property in the center. City Manager Greg Burris said with only five council members available to vote, Jared requested moving the second reading of the bill to the April 8 meeting.

Jared, one of six property owners at the 60-year-old shopping center, is seeking a blighted declaration to create a CID to raise $1.16 million in sales taxes for facade and infrastructure improvements.

The special taxing districts are generally used for public improvements and not to improve the properties of private ownership groups.

In this case, the CID would collect an extra 1-cent sales tax within a 4.1-acre boundary that includes Consumer Credit Counseling Services for up to 25 years or until the costs of improvements are covered.[[In-content Ad]]