ShoogarBear
05-25-2006, 05:46 PM
HERCULES
Wal-Mart pledges to fight eminent domain action in court
Patrick Hoge, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. promised Wednesday to fight the city of Hercules in court if the city's redevelopment agency follows through on its plan to use eminent domain to take 17.27 acres of land from the nation's largest retailer.
"That would be the next step, to challenge it legally,'' Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Loscotoff said of the Hercules City Council's resolution, adopted unanimously, Tuesday night, authorizing the use of eminent domain.
"Our position is that it's wrong," Loscotoff said. "It would mean there's virtually no limit on government's ability to take private property through eminent domain."
Hercules officials showed no signs of backing down. They said Wal-Mart repeatedly put forth an inappropriate proposal after buying property that for years had been part of a complex redevelopment project aimed at turning a blighted former dynamite plant into pedestrian-oriented residential and commercial neighborhoods.
When Wal-Mart bought land near San Pablo Bay in November, the city already had clearly articulated plans produced with extensive citizen input that called for a neighborhood shopping center of relatively small stores, said Gale Connor, a San Francisco attorney hired by the city to handle the anticipated eminent domain litigation.
"The plans were actually very, very specific," Connor said.
Wal-Mart, nevertheless, presented three separate proposals, one with the previous landowner and two on its own, each with a Wal-Mart store that exceeded what the city had approved.
Wal-Mart's latest proposal, submitted March 31, calls for a shopping center with a 100,000-square-foot main store, although the city previously said the largest store on the site should be 64,000 square feet. The proposed store would have Craftsman-style architectural details, a pedestrian plaza and two outdoor eating areas, and it would present a "villagelike'' atmosphere, the company said.
Numerous people testified against the Wal-Mart proposal at the City Council meeting Tuesday night, saying the design did not fit the community's desires and excoriating the company's business practices. A smaller number of people spoke in favor of Wal-Mart, saying they wanted the convenience and low prices and for their tax dollars to stay in their city instead of going to neighboring cities that have Wal-Marts.
Lawyers for Wal-Mart argued that the council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, was acting unjustly because the city had not given the company's latest proposal a thorough evaluation.
Connor countered that a big-box discount store of any kind at the site would undermine interlocking plans that have already produced hundreds of old-fashioned homes across Refugio Creek, and which call for a mixed-use village of high-density homes and shops in the nearby waterfront district.
"This parcel is one piece of a much bigger development puzzle,'' Connor said.
Not only would Wal-Mart be a draw for people outside the community, which would cause traffic problems, but it would undermine the economic assumptions for the nearby retail plans, he said.
Indeed, a representative of Oso Trabuco LLC, the company that owns the land along the adjacent waterfront, told The Chronicle recently that plans for the area have been on hold until it is known whether Wal-Mart is coming, because the company's impact on the retail environment would be so profound that the commercial component of the project would likely be cut.
Steve Lawton, Hercules Community Development director, said Wednesday that the city Redevelopment Agency is using eminent domain to ensure that the waterfront area does not stagnate and develops as planned.
"We're trying to ward off urban blight," he said.
Lawton said the city is on the verge of committing to financing $19 million of infrastructure improvements on the waterfront that include moving train tracks and building a ferry terminal, he said.
A city appraisal of Wal-Mart's 17 acres has put the value of the land at about $15 million. What "fair market value" the city would actually have to pay, however, would be determined by a jury, Connor said.
Link (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/25/BAGLSJ20UL1.DTL)
Wal-Mart pledges to fight eminent domain action in court
Patrick Hoge, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. promised Wednesday to fight the city of Hercules in court if the city's redevelopment agency follows through on its plan to use eminent domain to take 17.27 acres of land from the nation's largest retailer.
"That would be the next step, to challenge it legally,'' Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Loscotoff said of the Hercules City Council's resolution, adopted unanimously, Tuesday night, authorizing the use of eminent domain.
"Our position is that it's wrong," Loscotoff said. "It would mean there's virtually no limit on government's ability to take private property through eminent domain."
Hercules officials showed no signs of backing down. They said Wal-Mart repeatedly put forth an inappropriate proposal after buying property that for years had been part of a complex redevelopment project aimed at turning a blighted former dynamite plant into pedestrian-oriented residential and commercial neighborhoods.
When Wal-Mart bought land near San Pablo Bay in November, the city already had clearly articulated plans produced with extensive citizen input that called for a neighborhood shopping center of relatively small stores, said Gale Connor, a San Francisco attorney hired by the city to handle the anticipated eminent domain litigation.
"The plans were actually very, very specific," Connor said.
Wal-Mart, nevertheless, presented three separate proposals, one with the previous landowner and two on its own, each with a Wal-Mart store that exceeded what the city had approved.
Wal-Mart's latest proposal, submitted March 31, calls for a shopping center with a 100,000-square-foot main store, although the city previously said the largest store on the site should be 64,000 square feet. The proposed store would have Craftsman-style architectural details, a pedestrian plaza and two outdoor eating areas, and it would present a "villagelike'' atmosphere, the company said.
Numerous people testified against the Wal-Mart proposal at the City Council meeting Tuesday night, saying the design did not fit the community's desires and excoriating the company's business practices. A smaller number of people spoke in favor of Wal-Mart, saying they wanted the convenience and low prices and for their tax dollars to stay in their city instead of going to neighboring cities that have Wal-Marts.
Lawyers for Wal-Mart argued that the council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, was acting unjustly because the city had not given the company's latest proposal a thorough evaluation.
Connor countered that a big-box discount store of any kind at the site would undermine interlocking plans that have already produced hundreds of old-fashioned homes across Refugio Creek, and which call for a mixed-use village of high-density homes and shops in the nearby waterfront district.
"This parcel is one piece of a much bigger development puzzle,'' Connor said.
Not only would Wal-Mart be a draw for people outside the community, which would cause traffic problems, but it would undermine the economic assumptions for the nearby retail plans, he said.
Indeed, a representative of Oso Trabuco LLC, the company that owns the land along the adjacent waterfront, told The Chronicle recently that plans for the area have been on hold until it is known whether Wal-Mart is coming, because the company's impact on the retail environment would be so profound that the commercial component of the project would likely be cut.
Steve Lawton, Hercules Community Development director, said Wednesday that the city Redevelopment Agency is using eminent domain to ensure that the waterfront area does not stagnate and develops as planned.
"We're trying to ward off urban blight," he said.
Lawton said the city is on the verge of committing to financing $19 million of infrastructure improvements on the waterfront that include moving train tracks and building a ferry terminal, he said.
A city appraisal of Wal-Mart's 17 acres has put the value of the land at about $15 million. What "fair market value" the city would actually have to pay, however, would be determined by a jury, Connor said.
Link (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/25/BAGLSJ20UL1.DTL)