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(updated)
Why not this area?
Those residents who live in the area know how bad traffic is in the area. It is not unusual to sit through several lights, especially if you are headed south at the 182nd/Powell intersection or are west at the Powell/174th intersection.
The south side of the area is filled with homes, many winding around, or on, an unnamed butte. Very few main roads cover this area, leaving Powell and 182nd as the two streets most use to get to their homes. They then follow Highland or Pleasant View to get into the various subdivisions and apartments that fill the area. As such, these streets are already over capacity for much of the day.
Now Wal-Mart wants to place a Supercenter in the area, which will only increase traffic-- especially on the local side streets which are not equipped for such heavy traffic. When QFC went into this location, residents required that speed bumps be placed on several of the local streets that were being used as "cut throughs" to avoid traffic lights. These neighborhoods surrounding the streets are filled with children and many have speed limits under 30 mph. Those speed bumps have done little to alter the "cut throughs," which will only increase if Wal-Mart goes into this location.
This area is overwhelmingly residential. There is a small amount of commercial activity right at the corner of 182nd and Powell, consisting of a Walgreen's, Safeway, McDonalds, Taco Bell, and a few other small businesses. There is also a small business area at the corner of Division and 182nd, which is in the northern part of the Centennial Neighborhood as well as up the street in Portland at the corner of 174th and Powell.
This area is also filled with schools and parks, fitting in with the surrounding residential area.
The area is also filled with wildlife, with nearby wetlands, woods, creeks, and the Springwater Trail. It is not unusual for deer and coyote to be seen in this area. The piece of property that Wal-Mart is looking at building on was previously part of the local wetlands before QFC cleared and filled in the land.
Much of the open space still remaining in these neighborhoods are wetlands, wildlife areas, or areas designated for future city parks. It is not out of the ordinary to find deer and coyote roaming around the area late in the evening and in the early morning.
This area also includes a portion of Johnson Creek, which runs from the Sandy River to the Willamette River. This watershed has become increasingly polluted and the salmon that once filled the Creek are now on the brink of extinction. Gresham Woods surrounds the Creek in this area.
The Johnson Creek Watershed also feeds Butler Creek and Binford Lake.
Click here for information from Metro regarding wildlife habitat in the area.
Click thumbnails below for full size images.
 Map showing Johnson Creek Watershed as it runs through the affected area. |
 Arial photo depicting the location of the proposed Supercenter was well as the Johnson Creek Watershed. |
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Healthcare Costs Shared By All Taxpayers for Wal-Mart Employees
Wisconsin State Legislature Debates Wal-Mart Problem
From the June 27, 2005 print edition
On the state's medical tab
Legislators debate changes in BadgerCare to address 'Wal-Mart problem'
Erik Brooks
BadgerCare has come under the microscope following revelations that some of the state's top employers, most notably Wal-Mart Inc., have hundreds of workers in the state insurance program.
Labor leaders, lawmakers and others are asking that those companies help defray the costs of BadgerCare, which provides insurance to low-income working families.
Others contend the program is working as it should, and companies such Wal-Mart, which state statistics showed has 809 of its more than 25,000 Wisconsin employees in BadgerCare, bear little responsibility for workers who wind up on the state plan.
The debate over the issue is heating up, especially in light of soaring deficits in the Medicaid program, which includes BadgerCare.
Lawmakers are attempting to plug a projected $600 million hole in the state's $4.5 billion Medicaid budget over the next two years.
A rally in late May in Madison called on the companies to offer affordable health insurance benefits for their workers, or pay the price.
"Those that can, should. And most of them can," said Dan Welch, president of United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1444, Wauwatosa. "Wal-Mart absolutely can. Here is a company that makes almost $20,000 a minute in profit. They can easily afford to provide affordable health coverage for their employers, and they choose not to."
That choice has led to an inordinate number of Wal-Mart workers on BadgerCare, Welch said.
Increasing debate
Of the state's 90,017 residents in the BadgerCare program at the end of April, 809 of them worked at Wal-Mart, the most of any one employer in the state, according to figures from the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services.
Those BadgerCare enrollees cost the state more than $2.7 million in 2004.
Aurora Health Care, Milwaukee, was second on the list with 187 of its approximately 24,000 Wisconsin employees. In all, nine employers had more than 100 workers in the plan, statistics showed.
Just how to address the issue has been the source of increasing debate in Madison and across the country, where states are asking how much responsibility a company should bear for its workers on state-run insurance.
For example, lawmakers in Maryland in April passed a bill aimed at making Wal-Mart provide better health insurance or pay more into that state's Medicaid program. The measure was vetoed by Gov. Robert Ehrlich Jr., which would have required a company with more than 10,000 employees employed in the state to spend at least 8 percent of it payroll on health care benefits. Only Wal-Mart meets that standard.
Similar measures are being discussed by members of the Wisconsin Legislature.
The ideas range from a proposed bill that would require BadgerCare enrollees to disclose their place of employment, which is not necessary currently, to others that would require large companies to subsidize state insurance programs if they do not meet certain minimum standards in providing their own health care to employees.
State Rep. Terese Berceau (D-Madison) has proposed a bill that is calling for a 1 percent to 2 percent state tax on gross receipts for certain companies that do not allocate at least 10 percent of their payroll to health care. The tax revenue would go into the state's Medical Assistance Fund for use in BadgerCare and Medicaid.
The bill would stop Wal-Mart and other companies from "outsourcing their health care costs to the taxpayer," Berceau said after introducing her bill in May.
Wal-Mart's response
Phone calls to a Wal-Mart spokesman were not returned.
The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer stated on its Web site that it offers a health plan for "full-time and part-time associates once eligible."
It said that a survey of Wal-Mart workers nationwide found 86 percent of workers had medical insurance, including 56 percent that had it through the retailer. The others received the coverage from "another source" such as another employer or family member.
Wal-Mart provides health insurance for fewer than half of its Wisconsin employees, and the plans it does offer are often too expensive for its low-wage workers to afford, Berceau said. The Wal-Mart health insurance plans often feature high co-payments, deductibles and long waiting periods for enrollment.
That often sends Wal-Mart workers into BadgerCare, which began in 1999 to provide an insurance option for those who are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, which is the state and federal-funded insurance program for low-income people and people with disabilities. These individuals do not qualify or can not afford employer-sponsored insurance. To be eligible for BadgerCare, a family of two must earn less than $1,997.96 per month.
Having employers fund that program amounts to "a new tax on business," said Jim Pugh, spokesman for Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, Madison.
Scaling back some of the "generous" benefits of BadgerCare or tightening eligibility standards may be a better way of keeping workers at large companies off the program and cutting the overall Medicaid shortfall, Pugh said.
Pugh also questioned the motivations of those leading the fight against Wal-Mart, especially organized labor, which has been an outspoken critic of the non-union retailer.
"What you are seeing here is part of a hard-core, leftist, anti-corporate clique that operates primarily out of Madison that is bent on making it hard for all business to operate in the state of Wisconsin," he said.