Community Meeting on Wal-Mart
May 19, 2001
Sponsored by
The Coalition of Tri-Lakes Communities
John Heiser, Coordinator
P.O. Box 1763, Monument, Colorado 80132
(719) 488-9031 FAX (719) 488-3455 info@CoalitionTLC.org
Topics
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The Proposed Store (Dimensions, Zoning, Water and Sewer, Taxes) |
| Comparison to the Tri-Lakes Comprehensive Plan and County’s Policy Plan |
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| Questions and Answers |
| Organized in the latter part of 1999 in response to proposals for two concrete batch plants in Monument. As additional project proposals such as the Supercenter Wal-Mart on Baptist road were submitted, the Coalition broadened its efforts to address those plans as well. |
| Our mission is to help maintain the character and unique quality of life of the Tri-Lakes area while encouraging harmonious and aesthetically pleasing development throughout the area. |
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Serves as an information clearinghouse. |
| Welcomes all interested residents. We currently have over 320 families on our phone list. This includes residents from virtually all local areas |
| About 270 of these families receive a Coalition e-mail hotline every couple weeks highlighting recent and upcoming events in the area. |
| No membership fees or other membership requirements. The Coalition is entirely funded by donations. |
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Present the information currently available. |
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Inform residents as to how to participate in the process. |
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Identify those who want to be actively involved. |
| Solicit questions or concerns residents have about the project. |
| 1999: Goldberg Properties, the Wal-Mart Developer, approached the Town of Monument proposing to build a Supercenter Wal-Mart on Baptist Road across from King Soopers. |
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Monument Planning Commission scheduled a hearing on March 15, 2000. Due to a snowstorm, the meeting was canceled. |
| Based on issues concerning legal notice of the hearing, Goldberg Properties elected to postpone consideration of their proposal at the rescheduled Planning Commission hearing March 27, 2000. |
| Since the project wasn’t heard March 27th, the Monument Board of Trustees April 3rd hearing on the Wal-Mart proposal was canceled. |
| April 17, 2000: The Monument Mayor and Board elected April 4th instituted a 90 day moratorium on consideration of new applications. |
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Goldberg appeared before the Public Works Committee but transportation issues remained with the project. |
| Rather than resolve the issues, Wal-Mart elected to put the project on hold in mid-2000. |
| March 30, 2001: The Gazette reported that Goldberg Properties was preparing to submit an application to El Paso County for a supercenter on the same parcel. | ||||||||||||
| April 23, 2001: A pre-application conference was held between County Planning Department staff and representatives of Goldberg Properties and their consultants. | ||||||||||||
| Goldberg Properties has not yet submitted an application. | ||||||||||||
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Requirements discussed at the pre-application conference:
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Since the proposal has not yet been submitted to the County, this information is based on the proposal submitted to Monument
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24 hr. per day Supercenter to include a grocery store, garden shop, and tire-lube-tune-up express:
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| For comparison, Safeway is about 65,000 sq. ft. and King Soopers is about 87,000 sq. ft. |
Vicinity Map
Site Map
| The parcel is zoned R-4, an obsolete County zoning which for commercial retail translates to the current Planned Business Park (PBP). PBP is for retail sales and services "that primarily serve an adjoining neighborhood or neighborhoods." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Supercenter Wal-Mart would require rezoning to Planned Business Center.
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| Permitted Principal Uses in a Planned Business Park:
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Water and sewer to be supplied by the Tri-View Metropolitan District that provides utilities to the Jackson Creek development.
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Problems obtaining utility service seem to have held up the Wal-Mart project for many months. | ||||||
| The Tri-View District’s current position is that there was never any understanding with the Town and there is no reason that they cannot supply service to the parcel. | ||||||
| Under the anticipated agreement with Goldberg, Wal-Mart would pay 3% as a "retail sales fee". That money would fund a Public Improvement Corporation (PIC) that could sell bonds to do a variety of projects. |
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Projected initial annual sales would be about $45M. |
| For comparison, average sales in 1997 at grocery stores was about $398 per sq. ft. per year. For a 184,000 sq. ft. store, that would be about $73M/year in 1997 dollars or about $80M/year in current dollars. |
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It would reportedly not be unusual for a Wal-Mart this size to reach $100M/year. |
| Projected income to the PIC: $1.25M - $3M/year. |
| Tri-View Board meeting April 26th: In addition to expansion of Baptist Road, the PIC could finance the construction of Jackson Creek Parkway also sometimes known as Struthers Road. |
| Jackson Creek Parkway/Struthers Road would extend from Highway 105 south to connect with Powers as a four lane (2 in each direction) divided road. This is typically what big box stores seek as locations. |
| Think of North Academy Blvd. in the Springs. |
Jackson Creek Parkway
| 2000 Tri-Lakes Comprehensive Plan Vision: "A future for the Tri-Lakes area that preserves the area’s natural character and established land use patterns while providing for well-planned and complimentary new growth." | ||||||||
| The Tri-Lakes Comp Plan "was developed in cooperation with the Towns of Monument and Palmer Lake, the Air Force Academy and other surrounding interests. The plan is intended to guide decision-makers, developers, builders, planners, and residents in making thoughtful and appropriate land use decisions…" | ||||||||
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Tri-Lakes Comp Plan Mission:
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"Objective 5.1.8: Encourage cooperative transportation planning efforts…" | ||||||||
| "Goal 7.1.3: To allow development that complements the unique environmental conditions, is harmonious with the overall established land use patterns, and is consistent with the character of each Sub-Area." | ||||||||
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"Objective 7.1.5: Discourage requests for speculative commercial zoning and land uses." | ||||||||
| "Proposed Actions 8.1.5: [Develop] a plan that identifies economic development goals, objectives, and strategies that are harmonious with community expectations." | ||||||||
| "I-25 Overlay Guiding Principle I-25.2: To encourage well-organized and thoughtful development that complements the natural landscape and preserves open space and ‘viewsheds’ to the Front Range and eastern plains." | ||||||||
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"I-25 Overlay Guiding Principle I-25.3: To discourage development with conspicuously large surface parking areas." | ||||||||
| "I-25 Overlay Guiding Principle I-25.4: To visually enhance and define I-25 as the entry to the County, the Town of Monument, and the City of Colorado Springs. |
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"Policy 5.1.6: Promote economic development alternatives that place the lowest strain on available infrastructure…" |
| "Policy 6.1.3: Encourage new development which is contiguous and compatible with previously developed areas in terms of factors such as density, land use, and access." |
| "Policy 6.1.9: Protect viable residential properties from the adverse impacts of major roadways and other potentially incompatible land uses." |
| "Policy 6.1.10: Ensure that new development will not create a disproportionately high demand on public services and facilities…" |
| "Section 21. Adjacent Property: Purchasers of lots in CHAPARRAL HILLS agree to commercial development of the 30 acres more or less located Northwest of CHAPARRAL HILLS, in a manner compatible with maintaining property values of CHAPARRAL HILLS." |
| Zoned by the developer as R-4 which allows neighborhood retail. Wal-Mart or any destination retail large box store cannot be built on this site with present zoning and is incompatible with the historical zoning. |
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Most property owners would not have a problem with this site being developed in a manner consistent with the historical zoning. |
| Chaparral Hills property owners bought their lots based on a written promise that the use would be no greater than allowed by the zoning on the property. |
| This project is not compatible with the promise made when the lots were sold. |
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| Baptist Road I-25 Interchange |
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The Developer's traffic study submitted to Monument March 10, 2000 shows:
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| The total number of new trips per day using more realistic assumptions: 10,968 (vs. 7,598 in study). That more than doubles the traffic on Baptist Rd. west of Jackson Creek Parkway. |
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Short right-turn lane. |
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Steep grades. |
| Wal-Mart parking lots were listed as three of the top seven highest accident prone street blocks according the Gazette’s list of the top accident locations in Colorado Springs for 1999. |
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4-5 year timetable according to Dan Hunt of CDOT assuming no environmental or Right of Way (ROW) Issues:
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| Dan Hunt of CDOT: This interchange was moved up in CDOT’s timetable due to the traffic volume it is experiencing and the dangerous conditions: the bottleneck and sight distance problems the existing interchange causes. |
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| Groundwater Contamination |
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4.23 acre store |
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20 acres of parking lot |
| Shortest parking bay > 20 cars (210 ft.) without islands or plantings (vs. King Soopers max. of 9 cars per bay with plantings at either end) |
| Drainage would flow into a 1.9 acre detention area on the southwest corner which would then flow west via a ditch into Jackson Creek and the wetlands |
| Buffer from residential area proposed as 6’ wooden fence and mix of trees more than 15’ apart, wouldn’t meet requirements for most cities. |
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It is common practice at many Wal-Marts to leave surplus equipment and trash behind the store. | ||||||
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Pictures (Pictures were taken March through July 2000)
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Castle Rock Store
Chapel Hills Store
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Lighting is proposed to use 30’ poles (vs. King Soopers est. 20’ poles) => Increased glare and light pollution | ||||||||||
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Noise from
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Potential contaminants include petroleum products from cars and trucks | ||||||||||
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One dangerous component is Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE).
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Wal-Mart Store located at 8250 Razorback Road |
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80 Calls for service (.7 calls per day) |
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51 Case Reports Taken (63.7% of total calls) |
| Top Calls for Service - Theft and Fraud |
Based on Calls for Service - January 1 - April 30, 2001
Crime - Gold Hill Division
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Wal-Mart Store located at 707 S. 8th Street |
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229 Calls for Service (1.9 calls per day) |
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164 Case Reports Taken (71.6% of total calls) |
| Top Call for Service - Theft |
Based on Calls for Service - January 1 - April 30, 2001
Crime - Sand Creek Division
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Wal-Mart Store located at 3201 E. Platte Av. |
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205 Calls for Service (1.7 calls per day) |
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135 Case Reports Taken (65.9% of total calls) |
| Top Call for Service - Theft |
Based on Calls for Service - January 1 - April 30, 2001
What does the information mean?
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Wal-Mart is aggressive in pursuing shoplifters and employees who steal. |
| Wal-Mart ranked number #1 in the Gold Hill Division in repeat calls for service for this time period and #2 in the Falcon and Sand Creek Divisions. |
| Police Response is elevated due to the large number of theft calls. |
Based on Calls for Service - January 1 - April 30, 2001
[During the business impact and business practices portion of the presentation, Steve Waldmann presented his view of the impact Wal-Mart would have on our area.]
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Wal-Mart is the largest general merchandise retailer in the world with 1.244M employees. |
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Wal-Mart has about 720 supercenters. They are opening about 150 per year. |
| In 1997, they were the second largest food retailer with an an estimated $25B in annual grocery sales. Kroger was first with $26.6B. Safeway was third with $22.4B. |
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There are four Wal-Marts in Colorado Springs. |
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The Chapel Hills Wal-Mart is less than 10 minutes from the proposed site. |
| The Castle Rock Wal-Mart is about 17 miles from the proposed site. |
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One goal of Monument comprehensive planning has been to attract small business to the historic downtown area. |
| Bringing a large discount store to the Baptist Road area would divert commercial focus from the downtown area and would likely destroy many of the small businesses local residents have worked so hard to build. |
| Construction of Wal-Mart Supercenters has devastated many other small towns across America. That is not what most of us were hoping for in the Tri-Lakes area. |
[During the business impact and business practices portion of the presentation, Steve Waldmann presented his view of the impact Wal-Mart would have on our area.]
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| Anti-Union |
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April 17, 2001 High Country News story:
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| Wal-Mart pays substantially less than what grocery workers typically earn, the pay scale increases less rapidly with experience, Wal-Mart uses more part-time workers, and offers limited or no health insurance or retirement plans. The typical Wal-Mart employee stays with the company for a shorter time. |
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The result is that the trend to supercenters leads to the conversion of higher wage jobs into lower wage jobs. |
Source: The Impact of Big Box Grocers on Southern California, Report prepared for the Orange County Business Council, September 1999
| Wal-Mart requires that employees share the cost of health insurance premiums. Insurance coverage is only available to full time employees. The health plans have deductibles that range from $250 to $1000 and employees must pay the full premium for dependents. |
| In 1995, only 38% of Wal-Mart employees were covered by one of the company’s health plans; another 35% were eligible but did not elect coverage, likely because of the employee cost-sharing and large deductibles; the remaining 27% were not eligible for health benefits. |
Source: The Impact of Big Box Grocers on Southern California, Report prepared for the Orange County Business Council, September 1999
| Of the approximately 128,000 southern California grocery employees, about 80,000 are unionized. Those union members, employed by the major grocery chains, earn substantially higher wages than the non-unionized grocery employees. |
Source: The Impact of Big Box Grocers on Southern California, Report prepared for the Orange County Business Council, September 1999
[At this point a video was shown that reached the following conclusions:]
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Predatory Pricing |
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Closed Businesses |
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Lost Jobs |
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Smaller Tax Base |
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Less Competition |
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Higher Prices |
| Loss of Community |
Is It a Done Deal? What’s Next?
| It is NOT a done deal. It requires a significant change in zoning. The Board of County Commissioners could and should just say NO. |
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Once Goldberg submits the application, it will be sent to various agencies for review. That can take a week or more. |
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Then it will be scheduled for the next Planning Commission (PC) hearing. Min. 3 weeks. |
| Once the PC has made a recommendation, it will be scheduled for a hearing by the Board of County Commissioners. Min. 30 days. |
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Sign the petition. | ||||||
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Make a donation to "The Coalition of Tri-Lakes Communities" to cover legal and other expenses. | ||||||
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Work with the Coalition distributing flyers, etc. | ||||||
| Attend Tri-View Metro District Board meetings - The next one: May 24th, 8:30 am, at the District Office behind Monument Town Hall. | ||||||
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Voice your concerns: [a sheet giving points of contact was distributed]
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