REASON PREVAILS - A WAL-MART FIT FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD

by Tom Linehan

WAL-MART IS SCALING BACK IT'S STORE TO HALF THE ORIGINAL SIZE! Instead of a 200,000 plus sq ft SuperCenter, they will be building a 99,000 sq ft Wal-Mart.

That's fine with Allandale. We've never opposed a Wal-Mart going into Northcross, we've opposed a SuperCenter going in there. It has been a long, hard and costly effort trying to keep a SuperCenter out. Allandale can't handle the traffic and it's a threat to existing businesses. The majority of our residents have made it clear to us they don't want to be a SuperCenter neighborhood.

Yesterday our attorney, Bruce Bigelow called to say Lincoln and Wal-Mart were making a public announcement saying they were "reducing the NorthCross addition such that Wal-Mart would be 100,000 rather than 219,000 or 192,000 plus 5,500 garden center."  He further noted that Lincoln requested we not move forward with the appeal. Lincoln offered to withdraw any claim against ANA for attorneys fees. The new Wal-Mart would be less square footage, 99,000 sq feet, to trigger the Big Box Ordinance requiring a public hearing.

We have been involved in this fight for almost two years. We got an inkling of it back in June, 2006 when the Austin American-Statesman ran an article suggesting a Wal-Mart was being considered for Northcross. Below is a timeline made up of the headlines from the stories on this web site as the events unfolded. You can go back and read them here.

Many thanks to all of the people in the neighborhood who supported us and who put the time and effort and money into this cause. There has been SO MUCH work that has gone into this. Thanks to RG4N for all of their work as well. They raised it to the level of concern it required and organized surrounding neighborhoods to get involved. It is extremely disappointing/frustrating/disturbing that we both saw the need to pursue a lawsuit to stop the development.

A special thanks to ANA's Northcross Committee whose members include Katie Hansen, Michael Bomba, myself and Allan McMurtry who headed it up. And thanks to our lawyers, Bruce Bigelow and Maura Phelan with Blazier, Christensen, Bigelow & Virr, PC for steering us through the process and for their willingness to pursue the appeal. It's satisfying knowing that Allandale will not be known as the only Austin central city neighborhood with a SuperCenter.

Comments

[MARY ARNETT]

I want to thank those true leaders in Allandale and RG4N who did the hard work and made the difficult decisions to fight this battle. I also want to thank them for guiding the surrounding neighborhoods through the muck.

I believe this area is in a much stronger position now for future development that may come our way. The knowledge gained and the networking that was necessary to work through this difficult issue has formed a new era of cooperation that will serve the North Central neighborhood area well into the future.

It was well worth it. Yes, there were divisions of opinions and the outcome is not perfect for anyone. But in the end, this is a better outcome for all.

Mary Arnett
North Shoal Creek

[Voice of Reason]

"Reason Previals"?? Ha ha. Too much high-fiving and back-slapping going on here by the ANA. The headline should have read "Economy Prevails". The only reason that WM is reducing the size is because of the economy.

[John]

Let the spin begin. Somehow this will be spun into a victory won by RG4N, which it clearly was not. This was market downturn and a decision by Walmart to reduce their bottom line risk. This will also be spun by Allandale's steering committee to justify all the cost they incurred on this issue. I agree with Jack's post above, you can't say you never opposed WalMart itself, just read the past posts like Jack says.

The sad fact is that this whole issue has divided many neighborhoods. Think of all the other events and projects we could have been working on to improve our neighborhoods, instead of bickering with each other over which super-retailer would be worse for Northcross.

[Another Jack]

Lots of residents who were against a Wal-Mart Super Center voted for CM Leffingwell. My wife and I would prefer to see a Target go in at NC, but are both opposed to a 200,000 foot supercenter, regardless of the company. At least in our case, the first commenter’s suggestion that those who were against Wal-Mart and/or a supercenter of any size voted for Jason Meeker is not accurate. I cannot begin to describe how helpful and responsive CM Leffingwell has been, continues to be, publicly.

I also suggest that those who worked very hard on the Wal-Mart Supercenter opposition project did so in pursuit of what they thought was in the best interest of the neighborhood. I do not think they are particularly concerned over which individuals are declared winners or losers. This was not an athletic contest with a loser and a winner. This was not even decided after extra time with penalty kicks. I think history will record that all interests came out a winner with a 99,000 square foot store with no garden center and no auto center rather than the initially proposed 229,000 square foot store that include a parking garage, whose approval slid in just ahead of the mysteriously side tracked big box ordinance. Those residents who dedicated so much effort did so, I suggest, out of caring and concern for neighbors in their neighborhood and not out of any desire to play king of the mountain. We should also congratulate those businessmen who recognized that a more neighborhood friendly store was more appropriate for this site, which is ill suited for use as an urban destination big box retailer.

Much work is being done in urban redevelopment. I appreciate all those who are committed to quality urban redevelopment. It is new territory and exceedingly difficult to do, and even harder to do well. In the end, I hope that every one's goal would be for any urban redevelopment to be done well. There is a very dedicated group of volunteers that has been working hard on this and who continues to so, not for profit motive, but for what they view as protecting the quality of life in Allandale.

[Jack]

Yes, you always did oppose the Wal-Mart. Look at the headlines cited above: "Allandale is Emphatic - No Wal-Mart", "Wal-Mart Coming to Northcross", "Wal-Mart - Not in Our Neighborhood", etc. Even the idiotic red t-shirts from rg4n said "No Wal-Mart", not "No Supercenter". And, by the way, just to refresh your dubious memory, there was never a majority of people against the Wal-Mart, just a select few. Otherwise, how would you explain that the spokesmouth for rg4n, meeker, couldn't even get a majority of the vote in the districts which border Northcross? But, hey, if you want to go through life looking through rose-colored glasses, go right ahead. Wal-Mart still won, and you still lost.