Gresham rejects Wal-Mart's plan for supercenter

The company doesn't know whether it will appeal a ruling that a proposed store would fail traffic standards

Wednesday, August 17, 2005
CATHERINE TREVISON
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GRESHAM -- Gresham won't allow Wal-Mart to build a controversial supercenter at Powell Boulevard and Southeast 182nd Avenue because the traffic would overwhelm nearby roads, a city planner ruled Tuesday.

Wal-Mart officials have until Aug. 29 to decide whether to appeal.

"We don't have the actual decision in hand yet," Wal-Mart spokesman Eric Berger said after Senior City Planner Jim Wheeler released his decision Tuesday. "It's pretty early to determine what we would do next."

Wal-Mart has not bought the land for the proposed store, and Berger did not know when the company's option on it would expire.

"We won round one," said Rick Dwyer, president of the Centennial Neighborhood Association, which includes the Wal-Mart site. However, "they have a history of appealing every decision that they lose."

GreshamFirst, the group that organized to fight the supercenter, hired Portland lawyer Chris Cook to handle potential appeals. Cook has successfully opposed Wal-Mart when it appealed rulings by several other Oregon cities.

Wal-Mart could appeal Gresham's decision to a city hearings officer, who would have to make a final decision by Oct. 29 to meet the deadline established by state land-use law. From there, either side could appeal to the Land Use Board of Appeals, the Oregon Court of Appeals, and the Oregon Supreme Court -- a fight that could take 18 months or more, said GreshamFirst spokeswoman Javon Gilmore.

It is hard to predict what Wal-Mart will do next, Gilmore said.

"We have seen them walk away at very early stages, and seen things like Oregon City, where they appeal all the way to the state and are rejected and still buy the land," she said.

GreshamFirst also is urging the city to adopt a big-box ordinance. It would require large retailers to pass an economic impact review before the city allows them to build.

"I think it's obvious to state that Wal-Mart wants a store in Gresham," Gilmore said. "We need to think about the future sites."

Wal-Mart proposed a Gresham store with parking for 884 cars, most of it on two levels below the store. During the peak Saturday shopping hour, 1,105 cars would be expected to head to or from the store, according to the traffic study. The company said it would spend about $2 million improving roads to handle the traffic.

Gresham has never received so many citizen comments on an application, the city said. At meetings, in petitions, and in hundreds of cards and letters, neighbors insisted that nearby roads couldn't handle that volume of traffic. Wheeler agreed.

Wal-Mart's proposal met dozens of other city codes, from the handling of parking lot runoff to the protection of trees, Wheeler ruled.

But when it came to traffic, Wheeler made several key findings: The intersection of Powell Boulevard and Southeast 182nd Avenue can't handle the volume of cars. Wal-Mart's initial traffic study did not show the intersection failing to meet city standards. But the city's traffic consultant, DKS Engineering, reviewed the study with updated computer software, according to one of Wheeler's reports. Under the DKS review, the intersection failed. Cars trying to turn left near the store ultimately would line up and spill back into the through lanes, potentially creating jams. Wal-Mart couldn't prove that the system still would pass city standards. Flashing yellow arrows, which allow drivers to turn left when they don't see oncoming traffic, could lead to more crashes if they were added to the intersection of Powell Boulevard and 182nd Avenue. Wal-Mart wanted to add the arrows to move more traffic through the intersection.

But that intersection is already one of the most dangerous in the city, said Jay McCoy, a Gresham senior transportation engineer. A study of 17 Florida intersections showed their average crash rate quintupled when such left turns were allowed, the city said. Powell is too fast and is used by too many elderly people to allow that kind of traffic signal, McCoy concluded.

Catherine Trevison: 503-294-5971; ctrevison@news.oregonian.com