SR council votes 5-2 for Wal-Mart

<p>Wading into a heated political battle over Wal-Mart, a divided Santa Rosa City Council on Tuesday cleared the last major obstacle in the path of the retail giant's proposal to build a third Sonoma County store.</p><p>Construction of the Stony Point Road store could begin early next year if Wal-Mart resolves some minor design issues.</p><p>After a five-hour hearing that capped almost three years of review, the council voted 5-2 to uphold the Planning Commission's approval of a permit for Wal-Mart.</p><p>The council's debate focused on Wal-Mart as predator or economic engine, echoing arguments made before the Planning Commission two months ago and in cities across the country.</p><p>"Wal-Mart is neither the angel nor the devil," said Councilman Bob Blanchard, who voted for Wal-Mart "It's a business. It's a strong business" with 176 million shoppers a week worldwide. "It's demonized. It's also patronized."</p><p>Councilwoman Janet Condron, who also voted yes, said the key factors were the prospect of 250 to 300 jobs and discount prices in a neighborhood with a large number of low-income residents.</p><p>"That for me is the biggest issue," she said.</p><p>Condron and Councilman Mike Martini rejected suggestions that the Wal-Mart store would scuttle a proposal to create a multicultural marketplace proposed at the Roseland Village shopping Center on Sebastopol Road.</p><p>"I think this is an opportunity for Roseland," Martini said. "This is an opportunity to see a significant investment where investment hasn't gone on before."</p><p>The no votes were cast by Councilmen Steve Rabinowitsh and John Sawyer, arguing that Wal-Mart would create traffic problems in the area and undermine locally-owned businesses that couldn't compete with its prices.</p><p>"Wal-Mart adds to the homogenization of our retail community," said Sawyer, who owns a downtown newsstand. "We're getting closer to Anywhere, U.S.A."</p><p>"I think this project will bring the kind of development we have on Santa Rosa Avenue," Rabinowitsh said. "It will be more big boxes. It will be more fast-food restaurants. It will be more traffic. I think the neighborhood will be drowned in traffic. I don't think that's the vision people have for their neighborhood."</p><p>Mayor Jane Bender said neighboring cities have thrived with Wal-Mart stores.</p><p>"I listened to all the arguments but Windsor and Rohnert Park are doing fine," she said. "They haven't gone into decline and decay. They're healthy and they've got Wal-Marts."</p><p>Councilman Lee Pierce said he surveyed merchants in the Stony Point Plaza shopping center and neighbors on Tuesday, finding overwhelming support for Wal-Mart.</p><p>They said "bring it here, they're tired of commuting to Rohnert Park, tired of commuting to Windsor."</p><p>More than 50 people lined up to speak at a public hearing before the council voted, arguing passionately for and against Wal-Mart, the Bentonville, Ark.-based company that has become a national lightning rod.</p><p>Expanding from its rural roots over the past two decades, the company has become the world's largest retailer with 6,400 stores, 1.8 million employees and sales of more than $315 billion a year.</p><p>Wal-Mart stores sell everything from clothing and accessories to computers and TVs. Many have pharmacies; some are adding supermarkets and even medical clinics.</p><p>Supporters told the council that Wal-Mart would revitalize the Stony Point Plaza shopping center by filling a long vacant store, and boost the surrounding Roseland neighborhood by offering jobs and affordable prices for low-income residents.</p><p>Critics said Wal-Mart's discount products come with a high price for employees and other merchants, saying it offers low pay and scant benefits while undercutting smaller stores that can't match its prices.</p><p>One of the supporters was Frank Bush, a Roseland resident who pointed to empty storefronts like the old Albertsons store on Sebastopol Road and the Home Base store on the site where Wal-Mart wants to build.</p><p>"Empty stores do not bring in new residents," he said.</p><p>Philip Beard, another area resident, said he feared that Wal-Mart would doom the multicultural marketplace plan.</p><p>"I can't imagine what Wal-Mart would do other than kill it," Beard said.</p><p>Another critic, Calvin Simons, called Wal-Mart "a global leader in unbalancing the economic playing field."</p><p>Sally Dietz of Santa Rosa told the council she frequently drives to Rohnert Park and Windsor to shop at Wal-Mart's Sonoma County stores.</p><p>"I want the choice to shop at Wal-Mart and not drive to another town," she said.</p><p>Wal-Mart opened its first Sonoma County store about 15 years ago in Rohnert Park and has been pursuing its application for a store in Santa Rosa since 2004.</p><p>The company's plans call for demolishing the former Home Base store and an adjacent building that once housed a drug store in the Stony Point Road shopping center.</p><p>Wal-Mart wants to build a 106,000 square-foot store on the site. It would be next to the existing FoodMaxx store.</p><p>It would generate about $500,000 a year in sales taxes, the city's primary source of revenue for public services.</p><p>Wal-Mart was an issue in this month's City Council election with two of the three winners - Susan Gorin and Veronica Jacobi - opposed to the store.</p><p>Some Wal-Mart opponents asked the council to seat Gorin and Jacobi before taking up the appeal of the Planning Commission approval of a use permit and the environmental impact report for the store.</p><p>The election was certified last week but the city didn't receive formal notice in time to make a change for Tuesday's meeting. Even had Gorin and Jacobi two been seated, the outcome wouldn't have changed.</p><p>Wal-Mart still needs final approval from the city Design Review Board before it can start construction.</p><p>Wal-Mart officials said they hope to open the Santa Rosa store in 2008.</p>