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<H1>Wal-Mart shelves Moscow super center</H1><!--End Headline--><BR><!--Start Byline-->
<ADDRESS>By ELAINE WILLIAMS<BR>of the Tribune</ADDRESS><!--End Byline-->
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<P>Wal-Mart has put plans for a super center in Moscow on the back burner.
<P>Wal-Mart will not pursue a location on the southeast corner of Mountain View
Road and Highway 8, east of a former Tidyman's site and near Eastside
Marketplace, said Karianne Fallow, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart in Boise.
<P>"Wal-Mart has decided to re-evaluate our opportunities for a super center in
Moscow,'' Fallow said in a Thursday announcement.
<P>"While we're fully committed to continuing to serve our customers on the
Palouse, we can't continue to delay our relocation plans at this time,'' Fallow
said.
<P>Wal-Mart will continue to operate its existing Moscow store, Fallow said.
<P>Wal-Mart will also seek to open a 223,000-square-foot super center on Bishop
Boulevard in Pullman, Fallow said.
<P>That project has been appealed by Pullman Alliance for Responsible
Development in Whitman County Superior Court.
<P>And Wal-Mart will also look for alternative super center sites in Moscow,
Fallow said. "We still continue to view Pullman and Moscow as two very distinct
markets.''
<P>Fallow said Wal-Mart has no plans to build a super center in Lewiston at this
time. Rumors about such a store have been circulating in Lewiston for months.
<P>Wal-Mart's decision is directly related to action taken by the Moscow City
Council last month, Fallow said.
<P>The panel rejected a request to rezone 77 acres from agriculture-forestry to
motor business, a designation that could have opened the door for a number of
big-box retailers on the site.
<P>At the time, the council indicated that a rezone request for a lesser amount
of property might be acceptable.
<P>But Wal-Mart isn't interested in following up, Fallow said. "The city council
has continually changed the rules of the game. And creating a guessing game for
any kind of development is a very expensive endeavor.''
<P>First the land needed to be rezoned and then how much needed to be rezoned
wasn't clear, Fallow said.
<P>Then it wasn't possible for the store plans to be reviewed before the rezone
and other parts of the process were settled, Fallow said.
<P>Attempts to reach the city's elected officials Thursday afternoon by e-mail
were not successful. All of them were out of town, most of them attending the
Idaho Association of Cities conference in Lewiston.
<P>"We certainly respect the decision Wal-Mart has made,'' said Bill Belknap,
assistant city supervisor. "We wish them the best in their endeavors.''
<P>Mark Solomon, a coordinator of No Super Wal-Mart, said Moscow already has the
services a Wal-Mart would have provided at its own store and in retailers owned
by Palouse residents.
<P>"It's great news that the most predatory retailer on the planet won't be
gaining any larger presence in Moscow,'' Solomon said.
<P>Solomon's group already had a party planned for 7 p.m. tonight at the 1912
Center in Moscow to mark the previous zoning decision of the city council.
"There will be additional cause to celebrate Moscow's vitality,'' Solomon said.
<P>But Fallow said it's wrong for Moscow residents to view her employer's
decision as a victory. "With a super center comes additional jobs, additional
tax revenue. You name it, there are a lot of benefits to having a super center
in the city.''
<P>Solomon disagreed. Wal-Mart jobs replace better paying ones in existing local
businesses, Solomon said.
<P>------
<P>Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or at (208) 743-9600,
ext. 261. </P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>