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Zoning rules block kansas walmart supercenter Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/business/9497086.htmhttp://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/business/9497086.htm
Posted on Thu, Aug. 26, 2004
Mission kills Wal-Mart plan
By KARA CHILDERS
The Kansas City Star
Mission residents and business owners appear to have won their fight against the world's largest retailer.
Wal-Mart on Wednesday said new regulations in Mission would probably kill its plans to turn Mission Center into a Supercenter.
The Mission City Council unanimously approved the regulations Wednesday night.
“I believe the project at the Mission mall is for all intents and purposes dead,” said John Bisio, a spokesman for Wal-Mart in Bentonville, Ark.
The new rules require big-box stores of more than 100,000 square feet — such as a Supercenter — to be three stories tall. They also regulate parking and landscaping and subject big-box stores to additional oversight by the city.
Wal-Mart says a three-story Supercenter would be expensive to build, expensive to operate and inconvenient for customers.
“I think we were willing to be creative and try to find some compromise, but this was very much beyond the realm of what we are able to agree to,” Bisio said.
Residents and business owners applauded the council's action. Many have protested Wal-Mart's plans to build a 203,000-square-foot Supercenter at the eastern end of Johnson Drive and close its existing store in Roeland Park. In less than two months, they have collected about 1,970 signatures on a protest petition.
Mary Ann Nichols helped organize the petition drive.
“They're not interested in anything but money, bottom line,” Nichols said. “The thing could be made of gold on the outside, but inside it's still going to be a Wal-Mart.”
But Wal-Mart officials and mall developers said a Supercenter would have brought much-needed sales tax revenue, more bargain shoppers and a viable solution to Mission Center's struggles. Furthermore, they say the new rules will prevent any large retailer, such as Sears or Kohl's, from moving to Mission.
“These ordinances go way beyond Wal-Mart,” said Keith Copaken of mall developer Copaken, White and Blitt. “They are absolutely counterproductive to Mission Center and its redevelopment.”
City officials disagreed.
“Any retailer that can adhere to those ordinances and design guidelines can come to Mission,” Mayor Laura McConwell said.
McConwell has repeatedly said Wal-Mart does not fit the city's master plan, which calls for a pedestrian-friendly mix of residential and commercial developments.
If Wal-Mart doesn't build a Supercenter in Mission, it will continue to operate its store in Roeland Park, Bisio said. And Wal-Mart hasn't ruled out looking for another Supercenter site in Mission.
Most of the new rules apply only in a corridor along Johnson Drive. They do not affect existing big-box stores such as grocery stores or the Target in the western part of downtown.
Stores of more than 50,000 square feet will have to be two stories tall, while those of more than 100,000 square feet will have to hit three stories.
The changes also require 75 percent of parking to be in a covered garage or on the street. In addition, parking is restricted to the rear or side of the building, not in front, and must be screened by landscaping or a masonry wall at least four feet high.
Like those on the Country Club Plaza, the parking structures must be attractive and look more like stores, not garages.
To reach Kara Childers, call (816) 234-7737 >or send e-mail to kchilders@kcstar.com.
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