Wal-Mart drops Santa Rosa store plan

<p>Wal-Mart is abandoning its five-year effort to build a store in southwest Santa Rosa, say city officials.</p><p>The decision is a setback for those who eagerly awaited creation of 300 jobs, the mega-chain's low consumer prices and an estimated $500,000 in annual sales tax revenues for beleaguered City Hall.</p><p>But it is a victory for critics who claim the world's largest retailer damages communities by engaging in questionable labor and predatory business practices.</p><p>Months after Wal-Mart lost an environmental lawsuit financed by labor and social advocacy groups and neighbors of the proposed Roseland-area project, sources say company representatives have told Santa Rosa officials they do not plan to appeal the judge's decision.</p><p>It was unclear Monday whether Wal-Mart's pullout is being shaped primarily by the court's rejection of its environmental impact report, or to the fact that the new council has a majority of members who have opposed Wal-Mart and been critical of big-box retailers. Company officials did not return several phone calls Monday seeking comment.</p><p>But the situation poses potential hurdles for another big-box chain, Lowe's, which is planning a home improvement center on Santa Rosa Avenue. Lowe's environmental impact report will be up for review Thursday night by the city Planning Commission.</p><p>Councilwoman Jane Bender said Wal-Mart's intention was disclosed several weeks ago at an Economic Development Committee meeting. Other sources said they've also received word the company is giving up its Santa Rosa proposal.</p><p>"My guess is it wasn't worth the fight, that they saw there was a huge contention against it," said Bender, among the council's minority of Wal-Mart supporters.</p><p>City Attorney Caroline Fowler declined to discuss the Wal-Mart matter, noting that the appeal period has not expired. Conceivably, Wal-Mart could prepare a new envronmental assessment, but it spent five years and several hundred thousand dollars on the current one.</p><p>Longtime Roseland resident Margot Piccinini said Monday she's disappointed, particularly since efforts to find other businesses to locate in the half-vacant shopping center at Stony Point and Sebastopol roads have been unsuccessful.</p><p>"I don't think the unions have the right to stop something because of the hiring practices and rate of pay Wal-Mart offers," she said.</p><p>"With the culture in this area we needed something like Wal-Mart. The Hispanic moms could go to work part-time. Wal-Mart is known for entry level jobs, and it has the prices people out here could afford," she said.</p><p>Wal-Mart, which has stores in Windsor and Rohnert Park, has been a lightening rod for debate in Santa Rosa. That intensive opposition is expected to resurface Thursday when the Planning Commission considers approving the environmental study for Lowe's proposal for a 155,000-square-foot outlet at the northeast corner of Santa Rosa and Yolanda avenues.</p><p>That 10.5-acre project, two years in the planning stages, is expected to generate 175 jobs, $50 million in annual sales and $500,000 in annual sales tax revenues for the city, said Lowe's spokeswoman Maureen Rich.</p><p>Many of the same forces that fought Wal-Mart are gearing up to take on Lowe's, citing its impact on traffic and concerns it would drive locally owned home improvement stores out of business.</p><p>The nearest local home improvement competitor, Friedman Brothers, is two miles south on Santa Rosa Avenue. Tax revenue generated by that store goes to the county because it is outside Santa Rosa's city limits.</p><p>Mayor Susan Gorin, who along with fellow council members Veronica Jacobi, Gary Wysocky and Marsha Vas Dupre, have voiced opposition to Wal-Mart's corporate model, said Wal-Mart's advantages are outweighed by its disadvantages.</p><p>"I'm looking at both the impacts on our community and potential benefits," Gorin said. "Anything of that size and scale has the opportunity to provide jobs and sales tax and we would welcome that," she said.</p><p>"But look at Wal-Mart's business model. Does it equal out? What are the salaries they pay, can those with jobs there afford to live in Santa Rosa or must they commute? Will they force others out of business? And their impacts will further congest our streets resulting in the need for more traffic signals, road widening and school crossing guards," she said.</p><p>"We as a city are having a hard time providing services, but I'm not sure Wal-Mart is worth it," she said.</p><p>As for Lowe's, Gorin said "I haven't heard much other than there are thoughtful people in the community raising objections to their environmental impact report," she said.</p><p>Bender, however, called Wal-Mart's decision to leave "a setback."</p><p>"When you look at Wal-Marts across the nation they are doing better than other stores. This one would have brought in revenue that everyone knows we need, and it would have been a place for those in Roseland where they could go and shop and at prices they could afford," she said.</p><p>The opposition Wal-Mart faced and the city's recent move to impose tougher development standards on big-box stores did not go unnoticed by Lowe's The company mailed more than 12,000 brochures to Santa Rosa homeowners several weeks ago, providing details of what it planned and attached a postcard supporters could return to show their support.</p><p>"It was an opportunity to educate residents and inform them of a great opportunity," said Lowe's spokeswoman Maureen Rich. "In this economic climate it's a proposal that will bring jobs, sales tax revenues and increase property tax values, all factors that should be considered by residents," she said.</p><p>Among the leading critics of Lowe's is the Accountable Development Coalition, a group of labor, environmental, housing and neighborhood groups. It's chairman and vice chairman are Michael Allen and Nick Caston, both members of the city Planning Commission.</p><p>Despite those ties, city attorney Fowler said both can vote on Lowe's "if they believe they can be unbiased."</p><p>Allen, president of the North Bay Labor Council, one of the groups that funded the Wal-Mart lawsuit, and Caston both said they plan to vote on the matter.</p><p>Caston, who's been on the commission since 2006, said he avoids coalition issues that deal with Santa Rosa planning matters. Allen said he has avoided discussing Lowe's since he was appointed to the commission two months ago.</p><p>"I have to make it (decision) independently based on the planning documents and evidence submitted," Allen said.</p><p>One source indicated Friedman's is financially assisting those battling the Lowe's project.</p><p>Friedman's chief financial officer, David Proctor, however, denied the charge.</p><p>"We are obviously very concerned. We think it's a bad move for Santa Rosa," he said. While his company has hired local political consultant Herb Williams to monitor Lowe's planning progress, Proctor said "We are not funding any oppositional element of an anti-Lowe's group."</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Mike McCoy at 521-5276 or mike.mccoy@pressdemocrat.com.</p>