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ROUND 1 TO WAL-MART
Orange Planning Commission narrowly endorses Wilderness Wal-Mart proposal
Date published: 6/26/2009
RELATED:Orange builder offers Wal-Mart 75 acres west of battlefield
BY CLINT SCHEMMER A split Orange County Planning Commission last night endorsed a Wal-Mart retail center proposed in the Wilderness battlefield area. The 11-member advisory panel voted 5-4 to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve a proposal by JDC Ventures of Vienna for the 51.6-acre commercial development. JDC must obtain a special-use permit for the center because of the size of Wal-Mart's proposed 138,000-square-foot store. The tract, one-quarter mile from the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, has been zoned for commercial use since the early 1970s. Last year Orange adopted a big-box ordinance requiring a special-use permit for stores of more than 60,000 square feet. JDC's development plan, of which the Wal-Mart Supercenter constitutes about 60 percent, has generated national controversy over its impact to the park and the Wilderness battlefield where Gens. Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant's forces first clashed in May 1864. The proposed retail site is outside the national park boundary but within the area defined for further study for possible historical significance. A coalition of local and national groups has been battling the proposal since last summer. The issue, the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition has said, is not Wal-Mart, but its location near the park and the traffic and additional development it would spawn. Commissioners Cory Hefner, William Speiden, David Kovarik, Donald Brooks and Will Likins, the panel's chairman, spoke in favor of JDC's proposal. Commissioner Elliott Fox Jr. could not attend the meeting but issued a statement supporting the project. Likins said that though he doesn't like Wal-Mart per se, Orange County needs the tax revenue and jobs the store will provide. At a commissioner's request, Wal-Mart presented an economic impact study last night asserting that its store and the associated retail stores on the site will generate $800,000 per year in tax revenue for Orange and 622 jobs once they're built and operating. Months earlier, Wal-Mart had told county officials the Supercenter alone would create $500,000 in annual tax revenue and 300 jobs. Likins urged his colleagues not to let the emotions raised by preservationists carry the day.
Date published: 6/26/2009
walmart
(posted by
richards
, June 27, 2009 2:22 am)
I do not know what your min wage is there but ours in Illinois is 7.75/hr. That is what they start at. I work at a 205,000 sq ft store. Walmart said they would bring in 500 jobs we have between 200 and 250 at this store. Most employees are part time as well so you should really take a good hard look at Walmarts at other locations and see what happens in 2 to 3 yrs after they open!
a walmart isn't worth the cost to the area
(posted by
brightheart
, June 26, 2009 5:20 pm)
cheap goods, cheap jobs, cheap ethics. why is walmart so gungho on moving into places it isn't wanted-not just orange-and shouldn't be? http://www.flickr.com/photos/hawg/158871460/in/set-72157594205560619/
Ianrod, they barely make poverty?
(posted by
wideopenspace
, June 26, 2009 4:40 pm)
Funny because the starting pay per the FLS is $11.20 an hour for a floor person, you mean the managers make less? Navy, how many times does it have to be spelled out for you, Wal-Mart will not put out Bloom(though I wish they would) nor the 3 mom and pop stores within 5 miles. No stores will go out of business, why, because they have their regulars that will always come in and do business.
Wal-Mart is becoming like General Motors
(posted by
MrWonderful
, June 26, 2009 3:04 pm)
One day Wal-Mart will be bankrupt just like GM. They have lost their sense of corporate responsiblity. I am boycotting Wal-Mart.
Who needs quality of life, anyway?
(posted by
Elloramom
, June 26, 2009 3:02 pm)
Let's just pave everything. Who needs tourism dollars? Let
them go somewhere that cares about history and preservation.
We need our cheap Chinese schlock and minimum-wage part-
time jobs!
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