Nearly 200 battling Wal-Mart plan
By Jenny Peterson
JAMES ISLAND — They packed the Department of Natural Resources auditorium Tuesday night for one purpose: to oppose building a Wal-Mart Supercenter next to the current store on Folly Road.
Members of Islanders for Responsible Expansion said they were overwhelmed with the turnout at their first meeting. Nearly 200 people attended, sitting in the aisles and spilling into the hallway.
At a glance
THE ISSUE: Wal-Mart has proposed building a Supercenter on Folly Road.
THE PROBLEM: It would be built on about 3 acres of wetlands, and 30 grand trees would have to be cut down.
WHAT'S NEXT: A group fighting the expansion hopes to halt it by contacting Charleston City Council members, the Army Corps of Engineers and Wal-Mart representatives. The group has a petition at isrex.org.
"This is the most spirit and passion I've ever seen on my island," said Robin Welch, one of the group's founders.
One of the group's biggest issues is that the Supercenter would be built over about 3 acres of wetlands. Welch said that when
the current Wal-Mart store was built in 1995, the neighboring 3 acres were supposed to be protected as a trade-off.
Another environmental concern is that 30 grand trees would need to be cut down for the 176,000-square-foot center. Last month, the city of Charleston zoning board approved a variance for Wal-Mart to cut the trees.
The new store would include a grocery section; Welch noted that there are already seven grocery stores on James Island, four within three miles of the current Wal-Mart.
The Supercenter won't be built unless all permits are granted and City Council agrees for Wal-Mart to buy the 3 acres of wetlands. The next step is for Wal-Mart to apply to the Army Corps of Engineers to build over wetlands.
Welch urged the audience to write letters to the Army Corps, City Council members and Wal-Mart representatives in hopes to halt plans.
"Every side of the triangle needs the other two (sides) to go along with this project," Welch said. She said the group has met with Wal-Mart representatives.
Residents and elected officials have been outspoken in their opposition to the Supercenter. An online petition has netted more than 1,300 signatures. City Council Members Tim Mallard and Kathleen Wilson are both opposed to a Wal-Mart Supercenter. The James Island Public Service District and the city of Folly Beach also have passed resolutions opposing it.
Tara Stewart, senior manager of public affairs with Wal-Mart, said there will be a public meeting in the store's parking lot about the Supercenter with Wal-Mart representatives, to be arranged through the Army Corps of Engineers. She added that the new store would bring more jobs to James Island.
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icbmman (anonymous) says...
I hope JI-ers will continue to be satisfied with the dump of a WalMart they currently have now. Hopefully, WalMart will consider just renovating their existing store if their plans for the new Super Center go bust.
March 12, 2008 at 8:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
greener1 (anonymous) says...
I bet 198 of the 200 shop at Wal Mart. A bunch of hypocrites live in JI. Let's focus on just Wal Mart and 30 grand oak trees. Forget about the 1 million new houses and condo complexs they put on JI-because that in no way has caused any change in environmental integrity of that area!!! Traffic, only Wal Mart will bring unwanted traffic, good job CITIZEN PATROL! Your priorities are in order!
March 12, 2008 at 9:15 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
crankyyankee (anonymous) says...
This is so funny. A bunch of breeders don't want more developement. If these enviornmentalists were really interested in the condition of the enviornment and quality of life they wouldn't be spitting out kids like there's no tomorrow. All of us rail about developement and overcrowding but most of the complainers keep breeding. One day you will figure it out but not in my lifetime!
March 12, 2008 at 9:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Reader (anonymous) says...
Greener1 wrote, "I bet 198 of the 200 shop at Wal Mart. A bunch of hypocrites live in JI."
It is not hypocritical to shop at WalMart and oppose its expansion. What would be hypocritical is to oppose the expansion and then continue to shop in the newly expanded store.
These people are specifically opposed to a SUPER-SIZED WalMart. They are specifically opposed to filling in wetlands for such a store. Neither of those things is true about the existing WalMart, so there is no conflict in shopping there now.
March 12, 2008 at 10:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
KidYendor (anonymous) says...
Cranky, can you explain yourself please? Is this proposed new construction next to a welfare project? A meeting in the parking lot is weird. What are they going to do bring in a flatbed truck and put up a PA system and tout how great Wal-Mart is? Are the opponents going to be allowed to get on the flatbed and speak and stand in the lot with opposing signs? Contrary to Stewart, the new WM grocery will undercut the other stores, close them down and result in a net loss in jobs. Piggly Wiggly at busy Dorchester and West Montague closed down within a year of the Center Point WMSC. I don't live near the JIWM area but each side has a good argument and fairness to each must reign. But the three acre buffer zone must be obeyed by WM if it was the impetus for allowing original construction.
March 12, 2008 at 10:39 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
icbmman (anonymous) says...
Reader, your last paragraph in your post is very telling. The current WalMart was already built on wetlands, and wetlands in this part of the country is VERY LOOSELY defined. I would hardly call puddles with algae in them wetlands, but it appears that the environmentalist movement has done an amazing job of redefining the "environment" that they need to defend. Bottomline, they're using emotional rhetoric as their main course of opposition. Greener1 and crankyyankee have done a fine job in exposing the emotionalism supplanted with the hypocrisy amongst the WalMart opposition.
Reader, you say they're opposed to a Super WalMart. You do realize that the difference between the current store and the proposed store is very minimal...60,000 square feet. The new store will not make many changes, and there will be plenty of grand trees that will be preserved in the 10 acres WalMart has set aside for preservation. The lack of common sense and logic in this issue is astounding.
I bet my next paycheck these opposers will be shopping at the new one when it gets built.
March 12, 2008 at 10:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
suec (anonymous) says...
I bet they wouldn't be protesting a new Target or Earthfare.
March 12, 2008 at 10:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
icbmman (anonymous) says...
Indeed, suec.
March 12, 2008 at 11:03 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Verdandi (anonymous) says...
A solution that could accommodate both sides would be a two-story Wal-Mart. This would provide expansion of the store size without cutting down a single tree or encroaching on the wetland. Yes, it could be done!
March 12, 2008 at 11:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
pompusmaximus (anonymous) says...
God if it is one thing we need it is more cheap Chinese goods. Why do we need towns anymore when we can just have Wal-Mart fufill our basic neccesities. Hopefully the building is ugly and boring like the one in North Charleston. I also hope the parking lot is HUGE and always half empty.
With higher and higher gas prices, Wal Mart faces extinction. There warehouse on wheels can't support itself without cheap oil.
March 12, 2008 at 11:16 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
iceman1978 (anonymous) says...
icbmman, Wal-Mart should renovate the existing store. If that's all they wanted to do I would have no problem with it. I wouldn't mind the supercenter either, except that I fail to see where there is a need for it. James Island already has seven grocery stores, and the only difference between the current Wal-Mart and the proposed Supercenter is that it will sell food.
When they built the existing store they gave the same promise that a certain amount of wetlands and oaks would be preserved if they were given the green light to build. But as it turns out, the same areas that they now want to build over are the sections of land that they had previously promised to leave alone. Not all of the land that they have promised to set aside this time around is in James Island. Some of it is actually in Dorchester County because JI is running out of space.
I used to live in Goose Creek, and I can tell you from experience that when the supercenter was built on St. James (near the Lowe's) we had two grocery stores go under in less than a year. Wal-Mart may have created jobs at their store, but others were lost down the street. Yes, that's free enterprise because people choose to shop there, but the city of Goose Creek has yet to deal with the abandoned shopping center near Gilligan's where Food Lion used to be. It's not only an eyesore, but it hurts commercial real estate values, and draws crime. That's not what I want to see happen in James Island, and we already have the Buffalo South center which needs work.
Food Lion is within walking distance of Wal-Mart. What if that place folds up and the shopping center starts dying? How will the city deal with that? Also, what effect will this take on the residential areas that are across the street, and the Riverland Terrace apts? From what I understand at the meeting, this place will be open 24/7, will occupy almost 20 football fields, and be surrounded with lights in the parking lot. This isn't like the one in West Ashley that's built further back.
There are reasons why I left the north area, and overdevelopment is one of them. James Island is not the north area and many of us have no desire to see our community emulate them. I do not want Folly Road to resemble Ashley Phosphate or Rivers Ave! If wanting to preserve our environment, natural beauty and wetlands makes me an environmentalist whacko then so be it. I guess that's what I am.
And I can honestly say that I never shop at Wal-Mart. I stopped shopping there years ago.
March 12, 2008 at 11:22 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
RTC (anonymous) says...
Would someone please enlighten me about Wal-Mart selling so much cheap Chinese products. Was Sam Walton's motto not about being made in the USA? Did his heirs change all of that after his death?
People need to look at the tags of their fancy designer clothing. Chances are they were made in another country.
Labor is cheaper in the third world sweatshops, that's why Gap, Inc. and other upper priced corporations have their products made over there. Wal-Mart is not a sole culprit in all of this.
March 12, 2008 at 11:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
frankthetank (anonymous) says...
I won't shop for groceries at walmart. period. However the environmental and traffic impacts seem pretty minor to me. The "grand trees" i see in the WM parking lot are a bunch of scraggly sweet gums. The wetlands are a couple of algae filled holes behind the store. The traffic is there already on Folly Road so I dont see much of an increase. Nobody from WA or North Area is going to be driving to JI for a WM supercenter when they have one.
March 12, 2008 at 12:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
icbmman (anonymous) says...
Iceman, your argument against the WalMart is the best I've seen on this entire subject, including the articles. I can clearly see that you used logical thought in giving a very well reasoned conclusion that Super WalMart does not belong on JI. You are correct that WalMart initially built their first store with the stipulation that land around it would be preserved.
My opinion on this has actually been changed, somewhat. While I have no problems with the Super WalMart getting built, I think it will be OK if it doesn't...but I do hope that the company and opposers can compromise on a thorough renovation of the current store.
March 12, 2008 at 12:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
icbmman (anonymous) says...
Frank, that's been my argument for the Super WalMart...the impacts are very minimal.
March 12, 2008 at 12:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
crankyyankee (anonymous) says...
So it's OK for the State to pay millions of tax payers dollars to bring Cabela's to Charleston but a Super Wal Mart for James Island that is paying it's own way is taboo? I wish I understood the thinking (or lack of) in this State! I juz cain't cee how foaks from oft think we's stupit.
March 12, 2008 at 1:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
flinsc (anonymous) says...
Here is a battle that is going on in Florida. Been going on close to 3 full years. Same kind of situation.
http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnew...
March 12, 2008 at 1:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
iceman1978 (anonymous) says...
Thanks icbmman.
I believe that the existing facility should be renovated. Maybe the city can instead offer Wal-Mart some sort of a tax incentive for that particular location if they agree to renovate and keep the size as is.
ColdBeer, Best Buy does that as well. I get offended when they want to look into your bags. To me what they're basically doing is accusing the customers of shoplifting with no evidence.
March 12, 2008 at 1:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
pompusmaximus (anonymous) says...
I sure hope that the new Wal-Mart is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Wal-Mart loves to build ugly blue/grey blocks with the Words GREAT VALUE LOW PRICES written all over. For once I would like to see a Wal-Mart designed more like an old fashioned Textile Mill or Warehouse (i.e. Piggly Wiggly downtown or Publix in downtown Columbia)
March 12, 2008 at 1:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
theronce (anonymous) says...
Denying the door check is convenient, no doubt. However, the object of your protest, Walmart, is oblivious to it. The only person that possibly wounded by this is the poor old man or woman trying to make a few bucks at the end of their life. Actions have consequences, and regretably they must continue to work. I do not feel the need to kick them.
March 12, 2008 at 2:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ticket3477 (anonymous) says...
No one shops at the current Wal-Mart...Its never busy, I don't really see where these Wal-Mart execs are getting the idea that a super Wal-Mart wouldn't go vacant in 5 years (because it will).
It is illogical to put in an even bigger Wal-Mart next to the old one...wetlands, grand trees or not...its asinine to just build for the sake of building. As the article said, the old Wal-Mart was built on certain stipulations and now they are planning on violating those terms bc they like to waste time, money and land.
"The current Wal-Mart store was built in 1995, the neighboring 3 acres were supposed to be protected as a trade-off."
March 12, 2008 at 4:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ticket3477 (anonymous) says...
honestly,
besides the fact that its a stupid idea...I really dislike Wal-mart. Everything in that store is crap, they all look like crap, and the only jobs its going to provide are jobs for snaggle toothed highschool drop outs and retirees. James Island needs to be nicer...not crappier. I bet thats the underlying objective...because thats why I support the protestors...that and they shouldnt destroy the scenery for asphalt and garbage.
March 12, 2008 at 4:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
512c (anonymous) says...
The city officials will be getting bribed in 10-9-8-7.....
March 12, 2008 at 4:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
iceman1978 (anonymous) says...
LowcountryMoose, 26 Million??
That's like the Mall of America multiplied ten times. Or Citadel Mall more than twenty times.
March 12, 2008 at 4:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
preachlove (anonymous) says...
cranky - Do you live on James Island? Do you know what types of housing surround that area? Do you know the people that live in the area? I'm certainly thankful that your cranky... doesn't live on James Island. We don't need or want people like you over here. Because of a jerk like you, I'm defintely not preaching any love here and glad of it.
March 12, 2008 at 5:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cinnabar (anonymous) says...
Has anyone noticed how many trees and wetlands(swamps) there are in SC? This is not the great plans or the desert, James Island and coastal SC is a mosquito and no-see-um sanctuary with enough wetlands to accomodate all the vermin you can stand. Trees are not in short supply either, cut them down. (unless they are majestic live oaks) Drive to Asheville up I26 and you get a feel for how many trees exist. If Wal Mart wants to use their zoned property for a store expansion, they have as much right as any taxpaying property owner. This is Charleston, not Cuba....
March 12, 2008 at 6:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rollo (anonymous) says...
NIMBYs'! Probably hope that lack of competition will allow grocery prices to go higher and force their poorer neighbors to move to N Chas or Ladson. Maybe you'll get lucky and Elliot Spitzer will move in next door.
March 12, 2008 at 9:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
kateanderikinnova (anonymous) says...
Why not have the Wal Mart go into the Berle shopping center?? Surely it's big enough, and not like Wal Mart has insufficent funds to renovate. I would rather drive to West Ashley to go to Target then go to the Wal Mart on James Island. It will just be like when KMart moved to the Island...build a new complex attract stores and then, a few years later, there is an empty KMart store and a dying strip mall. I grew up on James Island, Folly Road used to be woods...amazing.
March 12, 2008 at 9:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hairy1663 (anonymous) says...
crankyyankee, it's not a problem with "breeders" On JI. The problem is with all the Yankees!! If you don't believe it then just drive through Wally Worlds parking lot & look at the license plates. On my entire street there are two families from the Charleston area, & I'm one of them! Heck! your probably one of the neighbors that aren't!
March 12, 2008 at 10:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Reader (anonymous) says...
"Reader, you say they're opposed to a Super WalMart. You do realize that the difference between the current store and the proposed store is very minimal...60,000 square feet."
I think that 60,000 square feet is a big space.
"The new store will not make many changes, and there will be plenty of grand trees that will be preserved in the 10 acres WalMart has set aside for preservation."
The problem with this trade-off is that the 10 acres are other wetlands which are already protected by law. It is not much of a gesture for WalMart of offer to super-duper protect that land. On the other hand, if WalMart purchased currently developable land and placed a conservation easement on it, then that would be something worth considering.
March 12, 2008 at 11:16 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
little_green_person (anonymous) says...
Reader, that is the best compromise I've heard suggested--- good enough that I think it should be considered by both sides (since let's be real, no one is going to be 100% happy here).
I doubt it would ever happen, but I'm always impressed with a good plan that can do something positive for both sides.
Good one!
March 13, 2008 at 12:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ctownally33 (anonymous) says...
Is everybody that is posting to this article crazy????? The idea to tear down the existing Walmart and build a whole new one is absurd. The area they want to build on, wetland or not, is one of the last remaining areas on James Island that is nice to drive by, see land and see trees, beautiful Anciently old oak trees. So what if houses and developments are being builtup like crazy,further congesting Folly road, what's done is done, it's not like people are happy or supported that either. And what was with the comment about spitting out kids? Who are you talking about? Other then generalizing our whole nation. People don't have nearly as many children as they used to and what does that have to do with building a new Walmart? All in all, yes I shope at the rundown JI walmart, period. Most people do, it's cheap and you can't beat the prices on some goods. But you know that place is THERE ALREADY, so we might as well use it. It's not like if I don't shop there Walmart is going to decide to close it down and replace the trees and pour back a wetland where the parking lot is located, correct? Point being it is already there, fix it up a little. Don't destroy the entire surrounding area.
PS Why not use that empty Berle shopping center?? That is a waste of conrete, ALREADY in place.
March 13, 2008 at 11:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
IslandGirl83 (anonymous) says...
People need to learn how the system works. It sounds like everyone opposing this thing doesn't even know what goes on here everyday. I'd bet there is a good bit of JI that was built on filled wetlands. And yes wetlands is a VERY loose term. So these people fighting this thing, Do you think they even know if any wetlands were filled to build their house or condo? I am not saying filling wetlands is the right thing to do, but I think if you are going to oppose something you need to always oppose it and not just when it is suits you.
Also from this article I was not sure but are they building a whole new store right next to the old one? I think when that happens the old stores just always sit there empty forever and noone ever uses them. I think if they do build the new store the old one should have to be demolished and removed completely.
March 13, 2008 at 5:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hillbilly (anonymous) says...
I say build it.
What's 200 mal-contents compared to the rest of all of us?
Sam did a good thing when he he started his business.
March 13, 2008 at 7:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bsurfkid21 (anonymous) says...
I am a student at the Citadel conducting a survey on this topic and I would like to get your input if you have a moment. The survey only takes 1 minute. Thank you for your help. I am not in any way affiliated with Wal-Mart, a marketing company, or the city of Charleston. I am only a student trying to get some input from the public. Follow the link to post your input.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm...
March 14, 2008 at 10:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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