All but one of 15 speakers who addressed Springfield City Council last night called for a repeal of the governing body's Feb. 25 decision to rezone roughly 6 acres at 444 W. Grand St. and 427–515 W. Normal St. to general retail from a residential district.
Last month, the city clerk’s office certified 1,808 signatures out of the roughly 2,600 submitted, bringing the issue back before council, where its members, according to city charter, must now either affirm the referendum to repeal the zoning or send the issue to voters.
While the speakers at the public hearing were almost uniform in calling for a repeal of the February zoning change, there was division among those who addressed council regarding whether a Walmart Neighborhood Market should be allowed to do business at the southwest corner of Campbell Avenue and Grand Street.
Former Councilman Nick Ibarra said the petitioners were infringing on the rights of those, including Calvary Temple/Life 360 church, looking to sell their property to the megaretailer. The petitioners are a coalition comprising members of Stand up to Wal-Mart, Citizens Advocating for Responsible Development, Stop the Neighborhood Market Project, Save Calvary, area residents and university students.
“The ability to petition our government is one of the few tools citizens have to balance the power of the council and the community between elections. Because of its gravity and the major implications of it, the action of pass and repeal should only be considered in the most extreme circumstances and as an absolute last resort to maintain the integrity of the community,” Ibarra said. “This issue is one where I believe the action of pass and repeal must be considered.”
Ibarra suggested council repeal the ordinance, and immediately vote to bring the rezoning request back up for discussion. City Attorney Dan Wichmer said he would look into whether that was a possibility.
Marla Marantz, a representative of Citizens Advocating for Responsible Development, said she doesn’t trust the traffic data presented at two Planning & Zoning Commission meetings and the February public hearing related to the zoning change. Most of the speakers advocating for repeal cited traffic concerns as the primary reason zoning should return to residential status.
“If you conduct a study at the end of (Normal) Street where there are a bunch of apartments when school is not in session, you are not going to get the most accurate count possible,” Marantz said. “I don’t think we trust the information to really know the true tipping point for traffic in the area, which means we don’t really know what the civic costs are going to be.”
In February, former Councilman Scott Bailes pointed out that Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. paid for a traffic study that found traffic would be alleviated by widening Grand to the south to include a center turning lane and limiting access to the store to two entry- and exit-ways, as well as blocking off Normal Street to the west of one entrance near Campbell.
Mary Faucett, a Rountree neighborhood resident who frequently travels through the area, said the location is wrong for a large retail facility.
“I have a grandson who attends Jarrett and a grandson who attends Parkview, and I can tell you that when I am shuttling those boys around to school and home that traffic is really horrendous,” Faucett said, adding that she also has aesthetic concerns about the corner as a reason for the repeal. “I really don’t think a big-box store is the thing that is going to make that corner more attractive or conducive to maintaining any of the character this city possesses.”
Several speakers took issue with Wal-Mart's business practices and stated that with 12 stores already in town - including Sam’s Clubs, Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets - council should not have approved a zoning change for the retailer.
Ellen Wolf, a former resident of the neighborhood, was the only speaker to call for a public vote on the issue. “With that closed-down Pizza Hut that has been there for years, nobody is offering to buy that,” Wolf said to council members.
Council is expected to vote on the repeal referendum at its May 20 meeting. If the repeal is denied, the issue would automatically be placed on the Aug. 6 municipal ballot.
