[Vision2020] LM Tribune: Wal-Mart forum panelist says let big store come to town

[Area Man (Dan C)]

For those of us who couldn't make it last night, and those of you who
don't get the Trib:
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WAL-MART FORUM PANELIST SAYS LET BIG STORE COME TO TOWN

By JOEL MILLS of the Tribune

MOSCOW -- While a community forum on the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter
in Moscow drew about 200 people, one comment reverberated more than the
rest.

There were probably far more people shopping at Moscow's current
Wal-Mart during the forum than actually attending the forum, an audience
member who didn't identify himself said to applause.

The point seemed to spread during the evening forum hosted by the Moscow
Civic Association at the 1912 Center.

"The only thing worse than having a Wal-Mart is not having a Wal-Mart,"
said panelist Stephen Cooke, an associate professor of agricultural
economics and rural sociology at the University of Idaho. "They've got
us over a barrel."

Cooke and other panelists said that while Wal-Mart may use some unsavory
business practices, it provides jobs and low prices to people who need
them.

Cooke presented statistics that showed an initial bump in local retail
when a Wal-Mart arrives. But that bump comes at a price, he said.
Communities within a 20-mile radius of that Wal-Mart see sharp declines
in their retail, he said.

His advice was to let the super center come to town, but impose
regulations on it that make it work for the community, not vice versa.

Cooke referred to an emergency "big box" store ordinance the Moscow City
Council passed in August. It requires conditional-use permits for
buildings larger than 40,000 square feet.

That permit application process would require a public hearing with the
Zoning Board of Adjustment, which can require conditions be met before
construction can start.

The ordinance continues into early February when a permanent version
will be voted on by the city council.

Panelist Jeff Harkins, an accounting professor at UI, said the free
market should be allowed to dictate which businesses come to town and
which businesses survive.

"This is a question about process," Harkins said. If the city decides to
impose conditions on one business, it should impose them on all
businesses, he said, while acknowledging his belief that Wal-Mart does
use some "naughty" business practices.

Freedom of consumer choice is the most important vote Americans have,
Harkins said. "This meeting can't be a vigilantism targeted at one
business.

"Who is going to control where you shop?" Harkins asked. "I prefer a
model that says you can shop wherever you like."

He agreed with Cooke that the city should put the "right strait jacket
on Wal-Mart" to ensure its business practices are in line with community
values.

Another panelist, Economic Modeling Specialists Inc. of Moscow Chief
Executive Officer Andrew Crapuchettes, said he moved to Moscow from the
San Fransisco Bay Area several years ago for the quality of life, and
Wal-Mart was going to change that.

"I think Moscow as a town should be striving towards truth, beauty and
goodness," Crapuchettes said. "Wal-Mart doesn't matter."

AmericanWest Bank Vice President BJ Swanson was the one panelist
steadfastly opposed to the super center.

"I'm a firm believer in a free market," she said. "But a free market is
rarely pure."

Local and national regulations exist to level the economic playing
field, Swanson said, adding that Wal-Mart's pay scale and reliance on
cheap Chinese goods don't represent fair play.

Swanson said other communities have succeeded in keeping out Wal-Mart
because it follows the path of least resistance. If Moscow doesn't want
Wal-Mart, put up a fight and it will go elsewhere, she said.

But that is what Harkins and others feared: the loss of jobs and tax
revenue a super center would generate.

The proposed super center would be built on 31 acres of land southeast
of the intersection of State Highway 8 and Mountain View Road.
It would contain 203,819 square feet of space that adds groceries and a
tire and lube center to Wal-Mart's usual line of discount retail items.
It also would include more than 1,000 parking spaces and a 10-pump gas
station, according to the city.

City staff announced the proposed Wal-Mart in November with a list of
hurdles the world's largest retailer must clear before it can build.

The first is a rezone of 77.6 acres of recently annexed farmland to the
city's Motor Business Zoning District. That process will be overseen by
Moscow's Community Development Department.

The rezone and preliminary plat approval require public hearings with
planning and zoning and the city council.

The current regulation-size Wal-Mart on Warbonnet Drive in west Moscow
would close if the super center is built. Some in the audience were
concerned over what would happen to that store if it is abandoned.

A proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter 10 miles away in Pullman has met with
opposition from some community members.

The civic group Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development has
appealed the city's initial approval of that store. Hearings on the
appeal have been set for 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Gladish Community
Center auditorium and for 10:30 a.m. Jan. 20 at the city council
chambers at Pullman City Hall.
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Mills may be contacted at jmills at lmtribune.com 
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Watching and waiting,

DC