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Walmart appeal gets April court date
The City of Monroe, the developers of a Walmart proposed for North Kelsey Street and the members of Friends of North Kelsey, who oppose the Walmart in its currently-planned form will finally get a second day in court next month.
Friends of North Kelsey last year lost a court battle to try to force Walmart developers to build a store more in line with design guidelines established by the city for that area.
But a Snohomish County judge ruled that, while Walmart’s site plan didn’t adhere closely to the city’s standards, it wasn’t so “clearly erroneous” that the court had the right to intervene.
FONK, which is financially backed by two labor unions that represent grocery workers, decided to appeal last July.
The Washington Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments on the matter Monday, April 29 in Seattle. Three judges will consider the matter, but will not deliver a decision on that day. In fact, it could be another three to six months before they rule.
Walmart has put building plans on hold pending the outcome of the appeal.
The land deal, in which developer Sabey Corporation is slated to pay the city of Monroe $7.5 million for the 24-acre parcel of land, is slated to close once the legal dispute is resolved.
Of that $7.5 million, the city is expected to net about $6.9 million after expenses. That money will likely be used to pay off part of the $11 million owed on the property across the street, which the city bought in 2005 from Snohomish County. Other funds could be used for city projects such as downtown parking.
MDG
March 12, 2013 at 8:45 pm
I have a difficult time understanding the city letting in such a BIG BOX company when it is, from my understanding, it is not allowed. Why are we letting the BIG Corporation dictate over what most of what the city and county wants? OH, I just realized….it’s the dollar!!! YOu are selling us out. You who are on the council and board you can bet that you will NOT be on my voter valid next term!! I am really angry with you all!!
JASON
March 26, 2013 at 1:43 am
Would rather see a Costco or a store that makes it so people can make an honest wage. The only people that make money are the greedy owners. This is a typical company that represents the rich. Wages and benifits are becoming harder to come by. Rising costs everytime you turn your head forcing you to have to shop at a Walmart. This company along with some others do a great job at keeping it’s workers at poverty level. Mostly what drives this country is the middle class along with small business owners. Companies like this drive away both of those. Instead of putting money in share holders pockets maybe we should be taking care of our town, the mon and pop shops, and our neighbors.
Wayne Kubli
May 20, 2013 at 9:18 am
By law Wal-Mart has to pay employees at least minimum wage some get more. Better than no job at all. Middle class and below people need Wal-Mart.
MDG
March 12, 2013 at 8:59 pm
OH, I forgot…..Lets not forget what Walmart will do to the existing stores and EMPLOYEES….There are Lowe’s, Fred Meyers, Albertsons, Safeway, Grocery Outlet, etc. Look around….look at all the closures that have occured these past years. Walmart will only contribute to more layoffs and closures. Is it really worth it to put our community at jeoporady and put more of our own out of a job for the BIG BOX Company that really does not have respect for its emplyees? Come on……Monroe needs leaders who will come to the plate and protect the intrigity of what is RIGHT and not what is about the DOLLAR…Remember the ALMIGHTY vote for you…..I will not be among them if you allow this company to infiltrate our community!
Mark Cunningham
March 13, 2013 at 2:57 pm
This same arguments went on when Freddie was trying to build in Monroe, I lived there at the time and as far as I know most of the business’ are still there. Did y’all know Freddies is a big box store, owned by the largest grocery retailer in the USA, Krogers?
MDG offers us a double reply, filled with the same doom an gloom as when Freddie wanted in. MDG accuses City Hall of making decisions based on the dollar, your darn tootin it is. This is one time I back City Hall, and I am no fan. Opportunities do not go away, they just go to other people. If Walmart doesn’t build in Monroe, the sales tax money goes to another tax district. What if Walmart builds in Woodinville or Bothell, Monroe not only loses the sales taxes, but loses the gain of property taxes as well, King County gets it all. In this time of budget crisis, Monroe needs all of the tax revenue it can get it’s hands on.
I know of two families in the Sky Valley that do their monthly shopping at Walmart, Marysville. My friend who shops there spends about $500 on groceries and misc. on those trips, he would like to shop closer, but 15-20% means something. I will bet there are many more Monrovians that shop at Walmart already. Walmart could siphon a bunch of shoppers from Snohomish and Duvall.
MDG also laments about “put more of our own out of a job”, who does MDG think will staff the Walmart? The hidden code words from MDG suggest loss of Union jobs, is what the real worry is.
There is no one answer that will please everyone. The best one can hope for in these matters is what is the greater good for the majority of the citizens, not for City Hall or others with a special interest, that “may” lose something.
My only concern about Walmart coming into Monroe is if it attracts additional shoppers and that is very likely, is the traffic. The traffic problem must be delt with, even if Walmart does build. My last trip to Monroe about 4 years ago, the traffic on a Sat. was much worse than LA traffic. I am not a traffic planner, I don’t have a solution.
If Monroe rejects the Walmart, Walmart’s business model will place the store in a more reasonable community near Monroe.
I favor placing Walmart in Monroe, so as not to lose the tax money and additional shoppers.
Wake Up
March 14, 2013 at 6:05 am
I am so tired of this same rhetoric back and forth. Walmart is a powerhouse backed by very aggressive and greedy people. They aren’t going to give up their place in the global market without a fight. Until everyone in the world can see through their BS and finally say enough is enough – i.e. we will no longer tolerate substandard products, environmental violations and poor treatment of workers and just stop shopping there – we are just going to have to suffer through another one (that we don’t need) being built.
It’s on all of us.
And yes, Fred Meyer is ALMOST as bad.
Concerned Citizen
March 14, 2013 at 11:48 am
I have to say that while Mark brings up how the city of Monroe will likely benefit by getting more tax money with the Walmart going in, there is a serious issue that is overlooked… The people who end up working there. As a former employee of Walmart I know their tactics. Once the hype of the grand opening is done, they start cutting everyone’s hours & even firing from the “over hiring”. Another Walmart tactic is to consistently under schedule employees, making them ineligible for health care through the company while at the same time qualifying them for food stamps, medicaid, and under employment… Programs that run from tax $, wiping out any supposed gains. Walmart plays with smoke & mirrors, don’t fall for their illusions.
Trash Comes to Town
March 15, 2013 at 6:36 pm
Years ago it seems our focus was on property values. However instead of attempting to recover we bring in one of the quickest possible means to reduce our home’s value.
Is it a store… No. It is actually lower income people or transients camping 24/7 in Wal-Mart’s parking lots that our overworked police department will now need to manage instead of protecting our neighborhoods.
Better competition really… I’m sorry but there is no way I will ever shop at Wal-Mart – is that snobby no – I like many others just expect quality in the products I buy and besides with Main Street being empty how’s that American competitive spirit working out for them?
But as the uneducated and uninformed are jumping up to greet the Smiling Face of the geriatric greeter (yeah there’s one “no benefits” job the city council can toot as a creation of their making) – I’ll be the first one to slam the For Sale sign in the front yard next month and purposely sell the lousiest buyer I can find so that Monroe with its prison, its Wal-Mart and useless wakeboard park can be driven by at 60 MPH on the Hwy 2 bypass with people driving by saying “what a sh8thole – get on 522 and go to Costco or 9 and hit Target”
Politicians can only see the future as far as their last day in office.
cindi
March 16, 2013 at 1:23 am
Cannot wait till all this wasted time arguing is done and WalMart finally comes to town. You don’t agree with Wal-Mart’s practices? Fine, don’t shop there and don’t CHOOSE to work there. No one is going to force you to shop or work there. For those of us who are continuously working to remain in a budget, this is where we will shop. Will it force other businesses out in town? Not really. Spend some time walking around downtown. Its filled with restaurants, antique stores, Hispanic specialty stores, dentists, used book store, and some specialty clothing stores. Almost all downtown places are ran by mom and pops who employ only themselves and family members. So, WalMart isn’t taking away from downtown. The only stores the are really going to have competition is the other big box stores, Fred Meyer, Safeway, and Albertsons. If they don’t like it then they need to work on ways to be more attractive to the people. Anyways, no one will ever change anyone else opinions but, I just find it amusing that people get so riled up about WalMart.
Nada Dyson
March 17, 2013 at 12:27 am
I have to admit that I have in the past shopped at Walmart, I am guilty. And after reading the past reports of the ill treatment towards their employees and the Medical Insurance issues, I agree that they will as usual, Hire and Fire at will anyone they chose. From what I remember on past visits was that the employees really didn’t look like they enjoyed working there, and yes their products may be cheaper, and yes, it would be closer then say Target, but I will FOR MYSELF prefere to shop at a UNION local store where I know that for the most part, their employees are actually being taken care of. Fred Meyers is fine with me. Unions aren’t perfect for everyone, but it’s far better then the likes of Walmarts treatment… I shall continue to refrain from shopping there, no matter how tempting it may be to get the Best Deal, it’s NOT really a deal in Reality…it’s NOT really a deal in Dignity…It’s NOT really a deal at all.
Brady
April 10, 2013 at 7:00 pm
I moved to the Sky Valley area because I loved the feel of small community life. I would love to know how the local “big wigs” can look at Walmart as a good thing.
How much tax revenue will Walmart give to the city compared to how much damage they’ll do to our local businesses? What will happen when Fred Meyer closes? Which other store will close? Will it be Safeway or Albertsons? Most likely it will end up being Grocery Outlet. How many large box grocery stores do we really need? Is it really worth it? Sure, Walmart will bring jobs but is minimum wage with little to no benefits really worth making a deal with the devil?
If you’ve never read the book, “Local Dollars, Local Sense” then please do before it’s too late and Leviathan moves in and consumes our small towns personality. If we follow the books advice, then we need to bring in a Whole Foods store to Monroe (or some type of business that will actually help keep our money here). Why? Because they actually try to keep their products as local as possible. What does that mean for us? Thanks for asking. That means several of our local farming communities will be used for their produce and in return the money that we spend there will stay in the community, not sent off to some corporate account that only cares about maximizing profit with no concern for the community where we live and work.
I work for a small local business and see the difference compared to working for a retail giant. My boss/business owner actually cares about my input and about me personally. You’ll never get that in a micro managed box store yet that’s what most of us are just drooling in anticipation for Walmart to break ground.
Gosh, what’s happened to this world?………So sad.
Brady
April 11, 2013 at 12:32 pm
I was compelled to add to my previous input and respond to the Pro Walmart opinions listed above. Not to “bash” them, just to word my views regarding their views.
-As Mark said, Kroger is in fact Americas largest grocer chain but they also opened in 1883, well before anyone else. They’re also union so their employees are protected against almost every tactic Walmart uses with their employees.
-Opportunities for a Walmart should go to one of our neighbors so we can see first hand how much revenue that the city receives from tax dollars and then spends on federal programs such as partial unemployment, EBT, etc for Walmart employees. Is it really worth it for the long haul?
-Mark does speak truth about the traffic congestion if a Walmart (or anything else) is built here.
-Wake Up and Concerned are right on. Great for them.
-When I lived in Richland WA there was a Walmart built one block away. Believe it or not, our property value dropped almost $5K that year. I thought it was a trend but it was just the communities that were close to the Walmart location. Vagrancy did increase as did crime by I believe 9% consistently since it opened.
-As for Cindi, I work for a privately family owned business on Hwy 2 and have already lost business because Fred Meyer has a lower quality item at half the price. Don’t you think places like Ben Franklin will be hurt after customers find out that they can get much inferior items 40% cheaper? Do you think Grow With Me Boutique will have more profits when you can buy cheaper kids clothes at Walmart?
I can’t force people to see how important it is to spend 10-20% more to keep your hard earned money in the community. Most people will spend the gas money and their time to drive to Marysville in order to save $10 at Walmart. Where’s the sense in that?
Right now, in fact, Wiggley Field is asking for business donations for upgrades.
Wet Noses (private manufacturing business in Monroe has stepped up) Do you think if Purina was here that they’d donate? That’s what we’ll be getting if Walmart comes here.
I guess only those that truly don’t care about their own community and have the head in the sand attitude would find the frustration that we are exhibiting amusing.
Please please please please do your homework before rejoicing that the devil in a smiley face costume comes to town.
Look up walmartmovie online and then read “Local Dollars Local Sense” and I know you will learn what can and most likely will happen to us long term as a community.
Thank you for your time.
Jackie
April 12, 2013 at 8:43 am
It’s sad that the new Providence bldg wasn’t built on WalMart’s lot, that fit the area to provide pedestrians (office workers) for community designed pedestrian mall. Everett College is looking for building space. And a senior complex is being added, the sidewalks down to the shopping district from neighborhoods is there. The value of the pedestrian design development is lost to WalMart. Since this is a central significant piece of land, it also changes Monroe to a strip mall car oriented area.
Overall WalMart brings nothing new to Monroe,we don’t need a new grocery store. It’s significant that Kroger makes the top ten in businesses that give back to community…WM wasn’t on the list. Why would anyone support a store that doesn’t support people.
Brady
April 14, 2013 at 11:21 am
I couldn’t have worded Jackie’s comment better myself
Walmart Smiley
April 14, 2013 at 10:19 am
All I have to say is, good morning Merica.
pro WalMart
May 24, 2013 at 12:53 pm
Fred Meyer, Ben Franklin, Albertsons & Safeway need the competition Wal-Mart will bring. Their prices are ridiculous!!. Grocery Outlet won’t lose customers because their prices are reasonable already. As someone mentioned above, downtown Monroe businesses will be fine due to their product diversity.