Elk Grove City Council Gives Wal Mart Project Extension

Wal Mart hopes to open another
24 hours store in Elk Grove 

Wal Mart's long sought project in Elk Grove's Madeira neighborhood was given an extension on existing approvals at tonight's Elk Grove City Council meeting.

Those approvals were originally granted to a proposed Target store planned on the corner of Bruceville Road and Whitelock Parkway. Subsequent to that, Target abandoned the project and was picked up by Wal Mart.

With that acquisition Wal Mart attempted to use the conditional use permit (CUP) for the Target project, but Friends of Madeira sued the city and Wal Mart arguing that the project was substantially different. In a court decision rendered earlier this year, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Lloyd Connelly agreed saying that Elk Grove's erred in approving the Walmart store based on the original permit without public hearings or environmental review.

During tonight's meeting the council extensively deliberated the matter peppering Elk Grove City Attorney Susan Cochran with several procedural questions.

Council member Gary Davis noted during deliberations that he favored starting the project approval process over. "It creates an opportunity for us to stand up for our residents," Davis noted.

After hearing the presentation from project representative Kim Whitney, Friends of Madeira attorney Brett Jolly said his group would be in favor of granting the extension as long as Wal Mart would meet in good faith with his clients to discuss their concerns. Jolly did strike a note of skepticism about dealing with Wal Mart though.

"Negotiating with Wal Mart is akin to negotiating with terrorist," Jolly said.

The council unanimously approved the extension request and it will be heard again on July 27.