As was expected, Wal-Mart appealed the denial of their application to the Oregon State Land Use Board of Appeals. They will hear the appeal on February 22nd.

Gresham First, the local organization that has been fighting this Wal-Mart location, has been participating heavily in the process. They filed the appeal when the store's application was originally approved by city staff last year.

Gresham First also filed an appeal on the decision made late last year to deny the smaller Wal-Mart store. Why would they do that? you ask?

From Gresham First:

 read more here »

I received the following e-mail on August 22nd. I would have had this up sooner, but I just realized that when my computer went down and the hard drive had to be replaced that I forgot to set up this e-mail account in my Outlook. Guess that's what happens when you have too many accounts...

I think it's funny that I received one of these, and that they put so much weight on the 470 supporters, and overlook the thousands who wrote in opposition.

Well, here is the e-mail in its entirety:

Gresham Wal-Mart Supporters:

Gresham city staff recently approved plans for a new Wal-Mart Supercenter in Gresham at 3900 West Powell Boulevard to the delight of more than 470 community members who have expressed support and provided valuable feedback to the store. However, the decision to approve Wal-Mart has been appealed to the city.

 read more here »

From the city of Gresham:

On July 27, a decision regarding Wal-Mart’s application to build a store at 182nd Avenue and Powell Boulevard was issued. The decision is approval with conditions.

The applicant demonstrated its compliance with the City’s standards for building placement, building orientation, building height, off-street parking, landscaping and buffering. In addition, the applicant must meet standards for public facilities, including stormwater, water, wastewater and transportation.

The main issues surrounding transportation and traffic were deemed to be resolved. An outside consultant reviewed the applicant’s estimated trip generation and found that what is proposed is an appropriate estimate for the proposed store size. Prior to occupancy, the applicant will be required to perform "before" and "post" development traffic studies. Traffic calming devices will be installed depending on the results of the post-development study. Other conditions regarding transportation include:

 read more here »

Wal-Mart recently paid $7.83 million for land at 182nd/Powell where it wanted to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Its plans to build that Supercenter were denied by the city as well as the city's hearings officer in an appeal.

Even though they've been denied twice, they're not giving up.

They are currently working on plans to develop a smaller store (112,000 sq. feet as opposed to 210,000 sq feet) for the location. They're also planning a new traffic study that will focus on driveways and the two intersections that Gresham's Senior City Planner listed as problems.

 read more here »

From the Oregonian:

Wal-Mart offers smaller store for Gresham site
Supercenter - The retailer counters earlier objections by reapplying with a scaled-down plan
Friday, December 02, 2005
CATHERINE TREVISON

GRESHAM -- Wal-Mart hasn't given up on building a Gresham supercenter.

The company recently paid $7.83 million for land at Powell Boulevard and 182nd Avenue -- the location where Gresham refused to let it build a 210,000-square-foot supercenter earlier this year because it would generate too much traffic.

On Wednesday, company representatives told a city planner that Wal-Mart will reapply to build a scaled-down supercenter on the land, arguing that a smaller store wouldn't draw as many cars. Though smaller, the plan would still include a grocery store and 36 departments of general merchandise.

 read more here »

The city's hearings officer has ruled in favor of the city's denial of Wal-Mart's permit application.

The ruling stated that all of the statistics, information, etc. backed the city's decision to deny the permit because of traffic and safety concerns.

The Hearing Officer's decision can be found here (PDF).

You can find plenty of information here, including public comments on the Wal-Mart.

From Gresham First:
(these are excerpts from the reports)

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED THIS WEEK

Gresham First has a surplus of COMMENT CARDS that we need to HAND OUT THIS WEEK!

They have a volunteer who is helping to organize a few more public awareness drives around the neighborhood, and could use some help this week. He will be RALLYING AS WEATHER PERMITS at the corner of 182/Powell tomorrow to pass out the extra postcards. If you have time this week, please contact me and I can give you his contact information. If you can't coordinate your schedule to attend a rally, please consider talking to neighbors and encouraging their participation. The cards could also be distributed in parking lots, etc.

NEIGHBORHOOD COALITION VOTES UNANIMOUSLY TO SUPPORT BIG-BOX CODE

After months of discussion, the Coalition voted Monday, June 20 to recommend the development of a land-use ordinance that would require retail developments over a certain size to undergo an economic impact review.

TRAFFIC COUNT REVIEWED BY NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD

On Wednesday, June 22, the City of Gresham facilitated the final meeting between Wal-Mart’s traffic consultant, Kittelson and Associates, and representatives from the Centennial, Hollybrook and Southwest Neighborhoods.

NEXT STEP - APPEAL PHASE

The City Planner expects to make a ruling well before the required 60 day period, as he has had ample time to review most parts of the application while waiting for finalized traffic counts.

Click "read more" below for full details.

 read more here »

Many residents who live in areas outside of the Southwest and Centennial neighborhoods don't feel they need to get involved with the fight against Wal-Mart. "It isn't going in my neighborhood," they say.

Don't bet on it.

Information showing that Wal-Mart has looked to lease/purchase property in another area in the city has already come to light. Wal-Mart has denied this; however, the city's urban renewal commission just out bid them on the former Fred Meyer location in Rockwood. Had the commission not stepped in at the least minute, the property might now belong to Wal-Mart.

The entire city needs to work together to fight Wal-Mart. If the company is denied at one location, they are just going to find a new location. The next time it just might be next to your home.

 read more here »

Onward Oregon has some great information on their website in regards to the Gresham Wal-Mart.

According to their information, Wal-Mart would cost the city of Gresham $93,600 annually. In contrast, small specialty retail stores taking up the same amount of square footage would bring in $65,200 to the city.

That's just the cost to the city. We haven't even begun to talk about money going into the local economy. Wal-Mart would contribute $14.8 million less to the economy than local businesses of an equal size.

City and county tax revenues would also go down if Wal-Mart goes in. Some studies have shown a decline of 19% after big-box stores went in.

Click "read more" below to continue reading.

 read more here »

From Gresham First:

Wal-Mart’s Type II Development Application has been deemed “complete” and residents now have only 14 days (June 22 - July 6) to submit comments to the City Planner. ANY PERSON opposed to this development may communicate in writing via electronic or regular mail during this review period. Comments should address relevant concerns and also your intent to appeal if the application is approved.

Jim Wheeler, Gresham senior planner, now has 60 days (from June 17) to make a decision on the permit.

Oregonian story on the comment period

Contact information:

Jim Wheeler
Senior Development Planner
jim.wheeler@ci.gresham.or.us

Community & Economic Development
1333 NW Eastman Parkway
Gresham, OR 97030