City agrees to work on limiting Wal Mart hours; will push a new ordinance regarding hours of operationThe Elk Grove City Council meeting last night was a standing -room-only affair last as a crowd of over 100 people jammed the council chamber and overflow lobby seating to express their displeasure with a proposed Wal Mart on Bruceville Rd and Whitelock Pkwy in Elk Grove.
Although Wal Mart recently purchased the land from developer Lux Taylor, the retailing giant has not yet formally sought permits to build what is anticipated to be a 98,500 sq. ft. store.
The meeting, which started 25 minutes late, began with Mayor Pat Hume giving a historical synopsis of how the parcel, which was originally planned for a 150,000 sq. ft. Target store, came to become property of Wal Mart. In the original plan, Target also stated their hours of operation would be from 8 am to 10 pm.
Hume stressed that a project, not a tenant, was approved. Although Wal Mart is obliged to follow conditions placed on the project, it is not obliged to Target’s hours of operation because currently there is no city ordinance regarding hours of operations.
“A project was approved, not user,” Hume said.
The hours of operations were the main focus of the 26 people who signed up to speak during the public comment session of the meeting. While many said they did not have a problem with Wal Mart per se, they were concerned with the impacts a 24 hour operation would have on traffic and criminal activity.
Acknowledging the concerns of the citizens, Hume and other council members said they would lean on Wal Mart to change their hours of operations. “We intent to ask Wal Mart to be a good corporate citizen,” Hume said.
The other council member also expressed support and promised to meet with Wal Mart representatives to urge them to change their proposed hours of operations.
Council member Gary Davis said although the city faces tough economic times from declining sales tax revenues, he said the city has to resist the temptation for the quick buck.
“There is pressure to accept this as a[n] [economic] stimulus,” Davis said. “But we can do better.”
Council member Sophia Scherman said she supports efforts to limit the hours and there was “no way in hell” she will allow it. She also took the opportunity to address criticism that she did not attend Sunday’s meeting organized by the Elk Grove Coalition Advocating Proper Planning.
In an almost defiant tone of voice, Scherman told the audience that she would have gone to the meeting but a medical emergency prevented her attendance. “To say that I don’t care, you are sadly mistaken.”
Perhaps the most stinging rebuke of Wal Mart came from Council member Jim Cooper. Referring to his law enforcement career, Cooper said Wal Mart’s act as a crime magnet and he preferred they were not in the community at all.
“I do know what Wal Mart brings [to a community] from a public safety issue,” Cooper said. “For whatever reason, Wal Mart attracts an element that comes to commit crime.”
In a note of irony, council member Steve Detrick, who was elected in part to his organizational efforts to prevent a Super Wal Mart from locating on Sheldon Rd, said Wal Mart does have one positive effect on the community. “Wal Mart has done an excellent job of bringing the community together,” he said.
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