A day after the Tacoma City Council put a moratorium on big-box stores, fearing Wal-Mart was coming, the nation’s largest retailer made official Wednesday that it plans to build in town.
Wal-Mart spokesman Steven Restivo said the Arkansas-based corporation wants to put its largest store layout, a Super Center, on Union Avenue and South 23rd Street. That’s the site of the Tacoma Elks Lodge, which is trying to sell the 18 acres to a California-based developer.
“The rumors proved true, so the moratorium was well-timed to give us some breathing room,” said one of its sponsors, Councilmember Lauren Walker, on Wednesday afternoon. “We need to be mindful of what is best for our neighborhoods and the overall business community.”
The moratorium, passed Tuesday night, was added to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting after concerns over the developer’s reticence to discuss plans. Jeffrey Oliphant of JLO Washington Enterprises has been working since February 2010 to find a use for the site that would allow him to buy it from the Elks. Early this year, plans to build a medical office and retail complex on the site passed a city environmental review. City officials learned only this week that Oliphant’s vision had changed to include a big retailer.
Oliphant did not return two messages seeking comment. The moratorium stops the city’s acceptance of any new applications or permits issued for “retail establishments that exceed 65,000 square feet in the aggregate” for six months. The council picked that size so smaller businesses wouldn’t be affected.
Wal-Mart submitted plans for its store to the city on Wednesday. It’s not clear what happens now.
City spokesman Rob McNair-Huff said staff must review what Wal-Mart submitted. Meanwhile, the planning commission now will take up the moratorium by developing findings of fact and recommendations. They have until Oct. 19. A hearing on the moratorium is scheduled for Oct. 25.
“At this point we can’t speak about the impact of the moratorium (on Wal-Mart’s submissions) until the staff has figured out what they have,” McNair-Huff said.
Whether the developer will have to go through a new environmental review, in light of the change from medical office to large retailer, also was unclear Wednesday. City staff who would know the answer were unavailable, McNair-Huff said.
Restivo said the moratorium was “the elephant in the room,” and he didn’t know how it affects the company’s construction timeline. Typically a Super Center, which is 150,000 square feet, can take up to 18 months between permitting and opening, he said.
Council members who supported the temporary big-box ban said Tuesday its intention is to give city staff and planning officials more time to study zoning issues and potential impacts such major developments can have on neighborhoods.
Business leaders are concerned that the council is sending the wrong message.
“This is the third moratorium in seven weeks that the City Council has put in place. What does this tell our business community in terms of whether we’re open for business?” said Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber president and CEO Tom Pierson. The two others related to digital billboards and medical marijuana dispensaries.
“The city council shouldn’t use moratoriums as a way to legislate issues like this,” Pierson said. Regulations should be done with an eye toward long-term goals and not target a specific project, he said.
Councilmember Walker said she’s not a fan of moratoriums but believes the three recent ones were good.
“They were based on specific information. They’re all very different,” she said. The big-box ban came out of the council, and the public, being in the dark about a developer’s plans for an important part of the city. “Moratoriums aren’t right in all respects, but this one was,” she said.
As for Wal-Mart itself, Pierson said the Chamber wasn’t going to take a position for or against one business.
Wal-Mart would “generate sales tax and bring in jobs,” he said.
Wal-Mart’s Restivo mentioned Pierce County’s 9.6 percent July unemployment rate in criticizing the moratorium. He said a typical Super Center employs about 300 people, and the company’s average hourly wage in Washington is $12.73 an hour.
“We are as good, if not better than, the majority of businesses we compete with, union and non-union,” Restivo said.
Tacoma’s Central Neighborhood Council has been pushing for weeks to determine what the developer was planning. CNC secretary Justin Leighton said Wednesday that the group probably will discuss next steps at its regular meeting tonight. Speaking for himself, he plans to try to stop Wal-Mart.
He and others have raised concerns that any development on the Elks site will worsen traffic in the area, which already has a large shopping center with Top Foods and a 125,000-square-foot Target store. But objections to Wal-Mart itself are the main concern.
“We as a community need to protect the businesses we already have,” he said. “A 150,000-square-foot store really sucks all the oxygen out of the area.”
Leighton identified himself as pro-union, and said “I value good working wage jobs, and a company that treats its employees with value.”
Restivo said vocal objections to Wal-Mart often don’t reflect the majority opinion.
“If we open a store and no one comes, we’ll have learned an important lesson about Tacoma,” he said. “But that won’t happen, and I don’t think our critics think that will happen either.”
Kathleen Cooper: 253-597-8546 kathleen.cooper@thenewstribune.com
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