The Coalition for Smart Growth
Northern Beaufort County
South Carolina
Published in the Beaufort Gazette April 6, 2008
Wal-Mart So Far
During the past several weeks the issue of whether
there should, could and would be a Wal-Mart Supercenter near the Lady's
Island Airport has been front and center.
For those of us who felt that the proposed location was wrong for
a "big box" store, the story has a happy ending, or an apparent happy
ending. Our best guess is
that the Airport Junction tract will not see a big box and we think that
is the right result, although there could be an appeal to the Circuit
Court by Wal-Mart so we will stay vigilant. The traffic, environmental
and economic impacts are unknown and are most likely negative.
Community reaction was heavily opposed to the idea of a large
store on Lady's Island. We
saw the issue as a community-defining moment
There were two tracks involved, both proceeding at
the same time. First was the
application to build the store under the expiring Airport Junction
Development Agreement.
Second was the landowner's request that the city extend this development
agreement for another five years.
The development was initially approved by the county in 1993 and
later adopted by the city in 2003 when the lands in it were annexed into
the city.
As to the first track, the application to build the
store, there were two important events.
First, Libby Anderson, Beaufort City Planning Director,
determined that a store as large as the proposed Wal-Mart was not
allowed under the master plan contained in the Development Agreement and
master plan. Simply put, she
said, in a clearly written decision, that the plan contained no building
anywhere near the size of the nearly 200,000sq.ft. Wal-Mart. The largest
building on the plan was about 70,000 sq. ft.
Wal-Mart then appealed Ms. Anderson's decision to
the Beaufort Zoning Board of Appeals.
After a lengthy legal presentation by the Wal-Mart lawyer, which
included virtual cross-examination of Ms. Anderson, participation by the
lawyer hired by the city, and brief comments by the public, the Board
decided in a 5-0 vote to deny Wal-Mart's appeal.
The reason for the decision most often noted by
Board members was that the proposed store was just too far from what was
shown on the master plan. It
remains to be seen whether Wal-Mart appeals the board's decision, but
they are a litigious corporation and an appeal would not be a surprise.
We think that Ms. Anderson's decision and the Board's unanimous
decision to uphold it will give WalMart a hard time in an appeal.
If there is an appeal, we and other groups and individuals will
try to intervene to become parties
We especially want to thank Libby Anderson for her
well drafted decision and her testimony, the Zoning Board of Appeals,
and the many members of the public who attended and spoke at the appeal
hearing.
We see this "big box" proposal, the public
opposition and the result as a second showing, the Clarendon/McLeod
annexation being the first, of the depth of feeling in concerned and
involved members of the public of how important it is to get growth
decisions right. In that
regard there was a silver lining floating right along with the Wal-Mart
cloud! We know our elected
and appointed officials and their staffs understand the strength of this
feeling and the public's willingness to spend time and money to make
their views known.
The second track of the short saga ended Tuesday
night when the City Council unanimously voted to extend the Airport
Junction Development for another five years.
However, this time they made it clear that additional extensions
will be discretionary. They
also amended the agreement to incorporate current environmental
standards and related regulatory requirements.
This will mean, for example, that future development at the site
must be preceded by traffic studies that are comprehensive and
consistent with other regional studies which are done through the county
to predict traffic conditions out to 2025.. (In its application Wal-Mart
had submitted a traffic analysis focusing only on the immediate area
near the store and planning only two years ahead,)
We congratulate the Mayor and City Council for
changing the agreement to make it more responsible and responsive to
public sentiment. Now that
they have adopted a document which precludes big box stores at that one
property we think it is critical to move ahead with land use
restrictions further limiting the areas for such large developments by
designating the areas, such as along Route 170 where Lowe's, Wal-mart,
Best Buy, etc. are now. The
traffic can be more easily handled there and the stores are compatible
with their surroundings.
In summary then, we think the Wal-Mart decisions,
while not yet complete, are very much heading in the right direction.
We think current and future elected officials understand the
depth of public concern about growth issues, and most importantly, we
see an increasingly energized public eager to get land use right in the
North County.
There is much to be done, there will be more
challenges and there is a need to stay closely involved.
We see the latter as our job and we are happy to be doing it!
Thanks again to all of you, official and otherwise,
who have gotten us all this far
For The Coalition for Smart Growth;
Beth Grace, Kay Harris, Harley Laing, John Stewart, Wendy Zara