Wal-Mart proposal a no-go in Central Point
State Supreme Court upholds ruling against planned supercenter
for the Mail Tribune
CENTRAL POINT — After nearly three years of public forums, city planning revisions and drawn-out court battles, the state Supreme Court has effectively put a nix on plans for a 207,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter near the corner of Pine Street and Hamrick Road.
Central Point Community Development Director Tom Humphrey said Friday that the city learned last week that an earlier Court of Appeals ruling, which declined review of the proposed store due to a postage error, had been upheld by the state Supreme Court.
"Basically the Supreme Court sided with the Appellate Court, so that closes that application. We've got another one pending so we'll be taking a look at that and if they come back with the pieces we've asked them to provide, we'll initiate the public hearing process."
Contacted for comment on Friday, Wal-Mart attorneys Greg Hathaway and Mike Connors of Portland did not immediately return phone calls.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Jennifer Holder said it's doubtful the retailer's initial application would be further appealed but offered no further comment.
"There is no comment. There's nothing to say. That's the end of the trial," Holder said.
Plans for a Supercenter on the 21-acre site were initiated in December 2003 when Wal-Mart proposed what it deemed a "community shopping center" near the Interstate 5 off-ramp and Pilot truck stop.
City Council members ultimately denied the project based on the city's perceived goals for the downtown, a decision Wal-Mart appealed, unsuccessfully, to the state Land Use Board of Appeals.
Further appeal took the case to the state Court of Appeals, which denied the case based on a mailing error by attorneys for Wal-Mart. Had the postal error been determined unlawful, the case would have returned for further review by the Court of Appeals.
Despite initial rejection by the city and an ongoing appeals process, Wal-Mart maintains ownership of the 21 acres at East Pine and Hamrick, which it purchased for $6 million immediately following the City Council's rejection of its supercenter plans.
While the initial application is no longer at issue, Humphrey said this week that a second application for a similar-size store is currently under review and awaiting further documentation by Wal-Mart.
The remaining application was submitted in June, just hours before Council members met to review zoning changes, which have since been approved, limiting big box retailers to 80,000 square feet within certain commercial zones.
Former City Council member and resident Carol Fischer was disappointed at the city's denial of the Wal-Mart store and is hopeful the remaining application would "make it through the system."
"We've at least got one other chance we can still have Wal-Mart, thank God," Fischer said Friday. "So many of us go right through town, past Albertson's and Ray's, to go to Wal-Mart and Food4Less so we can save money."
Known for challenging city government on a handful of occasions, Fischer said she is "completely disgusted" that tax dollars had been used to fund attorneys for the fight against Wal-Mart.
Owner of the Whimsy Bug bookstore, Shannon Gerten approved of the city's denial of a Wal-Mart Supercenter.
"I'm kind of torn," Gerten said. "As much as I would like to see our little town of Central Point grow and prosper, I don't want to see it happen with a Wal-Mart. I would much rather see it happen with some small and quaint businesses. The traffic that would come with Wal-Mart would do nothing but destroy our little town. I think most people feel the same way I do. We're a quaint little place and we would like it to stay that way."
Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at buffypollock@juno.com.
