Tempe Town Lake

Mayor takes a stance on Wal-Mart location

Katie Nelson

The Arizona Republic
May. 18, 2007 01:41 PM

For the first time, a Tempe city official has taken a public stance on plans to open a Wal-Mart in the Mervyn's location at Rural Road and Southern Avenue.

Mayor Hugh Hallman on Friday sent a letter to Wal-Mart officials, imploring the discount store's leadership to consider other sites.

" . . . the location Wal-Mart has selected for its proposed Supercenter appears inadequate, inappropriate and potentially deleterious to the surrounding community," Hallman wrote in the letter.

Hallman expressed a desire to keep Wal-Mart in the community and offered to discuss other potential locations. He said the proposed location is "not appropriate" because it's across the street from the city library, senior center and history museum, and is surrounded by single-family homes.

Hallman also alluded to the possibility of the city using an open lot next to the proposed Wal-Mart location for additional city services - a move that could throw off any plans Wal-Mart may have to buy up more land and expand.

"As a result, that opportunity (the city using the open lot) may also affect Wal-Mart's long-term intentions and bring our City's and Wal-Mart's long-term interests and relationship into greater conflict," Hallman wrote.

Hallman didn't sign the letter as mayor, and pointed out that he was only speaking for himself, not the entire council. But he did send his sentiments on city letterhead.

The City Council and city staffers have been inundated by e-mails, letters and phone calls from the community since news broke about Wal-Mart's plans last month. Most - but not all - of the people who voiced an opinion said they didn't want Wal-Mart to open at the Mervyn's location.

But city leaders' hands are essentially tied: The Mervyn's site is already zoned for retail business, which is what Wal-Mart does, so the store is legally allowable. (Hallman notes this reality in his letter.)

Yet that hasn't stopped neighbors from trying to keep Wal-Mart out by writing letters, creating a Web site and circulating petitions.

"To hear someone take a stance, it feels good," said Louis Casillas, who lives in a townhome near the proposed location. "I wrote a letter to the City Council hoping that someone would do something. The fact that someone is finally sticking their neck out there and pushing to have some kind of action done - whether it will actually do anything - it shows at least they are trying."

Wal-Mart officials have said the Arkansas company plans to make only interior changes to the Mervyn's store when it opens a Supercenter after the Mervyn's lease expires at the end of May 2008. The size is smaller than a typical Supercenter, but it will be called a Supercenter because it will sell groceries, said Delia Garcia, a local Wal-Mart spokeswoman.

View Hallman's entire letter and read about other Tempe buzz at Katie Nelson's blog at azcentral.com/community/tempe/