Wal-Mart Asks for Public Review of Changed Expansion Plans

The ongoing negotiations between the City of Rohnert Park and Wal-Mart Corp. took another turn today when the multi-billion dollar corporation voluntarily asked for the City to slow down, not speed up, its application for a 'super-store', according to story in the Press Democrat.

Wal-Mart has asked Rohnert Park to delay the progress of the company's proposed expansion of its Redwood Drive store so that the public can have more time to evaluate it…

The world's largest retailer cast the request primarily as a way to alleviate concerns that the public hadn't had enough chance to check out and comment on the proposed expansion. But it is also a bid to derail appeals filed against an earlier Planning Commission approval of the proposed expansion.

Plans to expand the store to include groceries have raised concerns that it could drive local groceries stores out of business, a concern voiced last week by former Clinton administration economist Robert Reich.

Wal-Mart's plans for expansion were turned down by the Planning Commission upon their original filing, but the City Council reversed that decision in 2011.

Public opposition led to a court's ruling that parts of the filed environmental impact statement be revised because of noise and traffic concerns.

The Press Democrat quotes company vice president John Clarke as saying, “Walmart believes that preparation and circulation of a partial draft EIR will obviate the need for the City Council to hear the appeals.”