It was almost a month ago that our beloved city council granted a zoning change "paving" the way to a west-end Big Box nirvana. The rules state that opponents have a month to file an appeal with the Ontario Municipal Board. Well, that month window closes on Monday. The big question is; Has LaSalle filed an appeal? Any other residents or organizations filed yet? I guess we'll find out Monday.But, in the meantime I thought I would pass along an article harvested from the London Free Press about some scrappy little Ontario town who apparently had the nerve to question Sprawl-Mart's motives and actually - GASP - turned down their application to build.
Yes, they are also going to the OMB, but this time it is Arkansas' Walton family who is on the offensive.
Because, what right does a piddly old municipality have to determine it's own future?
That's nice, eh? We finish off the article with a threat from the Sprawl-Mart lawyer basically saying that if you don't want to play with us, we'll skim all your retail bucks over your municipal border.
Stratford's plan to nix Wal-Mart bound for OMB
SmartCentres has launched itself once more into the breech as it tries to reverse Stratford's rejection of an east-end Wal-Mart store.
An appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board was filed this week to challenge Stratford city council's decision three weeks ago against rezoning industrial land into commercial land for a cluster of stores that would include a Wal-Mart.
"I don't think it's a big surprise" that the mall developer believes councillors erred in not heeding even their own consultants' studies, Alan Scully, lawyer for SmartCentres/Avonwood Shopping Centres, said yesterday.
The appeal is yet another act in the ongoing drama over the 22-acre site owned by Avonwood, near C.H. Meier Boulevard and Douro Street.
Council's decision came after years of debate and months of lobbying by groups for and against the development in the hometown of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Mainly, the public debate buzzed around the impact of Wal-Mart, which would be an 111,000-square-foot centrepiece of the development.
Traffic and retail-viability studies were conducted. Among them was a report that suggested the Festival City's downtown was healthy enough to survive and thrive with a big-box store in east Stratford.
"We had expected the zoning process in Stratford would take some time, that it is a very unique market and that the opening of Wal-Mart would be contentious," Scully said yesterday. But he said he was "somewhat surprised" by council's negative vote. "I'm not going to say I'm frustrated, but I am surprised."
Stratford Mayor Dan Mathieson said the appeal was expected.
"Stratford has rendered a planning decision which we feel has represented the best public interests of the community," (ed: can we get this guy to move to Windsor?) he said. Mathieson said he has heard a month might have to be set aside for the hearing. He said money is set aside in each year's budget for planning processes, including possible OMB appeals.
Scully said he expects an OMB pre-hearing will take place within six months, with a full hearing "within the year." Stratford Mall has also appealed the same council decision, Mathieson said.
The lawyer representing that mall was not immediately available for comment.
SmartCentres, one of Canada's biggest retail developers, operates more than 185 shopping centres, including many big-box and national-brand stores.
Scully said "it certainly is an option" for SmartCentres to look at building just outside the city's easternmost boundaries.
Here's a word of advice to Windsor's city council: when the residents of the city of Guelph lost their 10 year old battle to keep Wal-Mart out of their community, their council paid the price at the next municipal election. One week after the Wal-Mart opened, Guelph voted in its civic election. Every candidate who supported Wal-Mart, including the mayor, was defeated.
Here's hoping that Stratford prevails and keeps this monstrosity from setting up shop. Apparently, they still have a town worth caring about.
