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Foes keep Wal-Mart site bare

Legal costs are adding up for a group fighting the retailer's plans to build a Supercenter along the Anclote River.

By ROBIN STEIN
Published December 17, 2005

	[Times photo: Kathleen Flynn]
	Bordering the Anclote River, the undeveloped land on the east side of northbound U.S. 19, north of Live Oak Street in Tarpon Springs, is the site for a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter. Wal-Mart has applied for a building permit. But legal challenges to the City Commission's approval of the project have left the site empty.

TARPON SPRINGS - It's high season for Christmas shopping in the parking lot of Tarpon Square Shopping Center.

Cars creep through the aisles, scouting parking spots and dodging the field of carts streaming out of Big Lots, Beall's Outlet and Super Kmart.

But on the expansive tract of land across U.S. 19, the site where Wal-Mart won approval to build a Supercenter, there is no hint of the 204,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style store.

Eleven months after the city commission voted in favor of Wal-Mart's plan, there is not a bulldozer or survey stake in sight.

The company applied for a building permit this month. While Wal-Mart's plans have yet to take visible form, they have not been stopped.

The proposal to build along the Anclote River sparked a hot dispute that culminated in an all-night city commission meeting in January that drew more than 400 people.

Wal-Mart emerged victorious, winning the commission's approval 3-2, with commissioners Peter Dalacos and Peter Nehr voting against. But a month later, a group of about 50 environmental and community activists called Concerned Citizens for Tarpon Springs filed a lawsuit challenging the commission's vote.

"We certainly feel very strong about our position legally," said Wal-Mart spokesman Eric Brewer. "But it is still in litigation and certainly we will not proceed constructionwise until that's wound down."

The group opposing the construction doesn't plan to let up.

"They are in no position to begin building," said Helen Gladwin, a member of Concerned Citizens. "Anything they build will have to be torn down if they lose."

The fight has been playing out in a series of expensive court hearings and motions. Two cases brought by Concerned Citizens are currently pending against the city.

"Over the past year, they've done everything they can to deter us," said Joan Skaaland, one of the group's leaders. "They've tried to run up our legal fees and wear us down, but the courts seem to think it's a case. I still feel really good about it."

To fund the battle against the city and the nation's largest corporation, Skaaland said the group, also called Friends of the Anclote River, has made T-shirts, set up a Web site and held a fundraiser to raise in excess of $80,000 to cover legal fees.

The city, which has spent $9,700 to fight the suit so far, was unsuccessful in its bid to have the group's case dismissed.

"It cost us almost $40,000 to fight that motion to dismiss," said Skaaland.

In one case, Concerned Citizens argues that the city commission did not follow the law in voting to approve Wal-Mart's plan. A three-judge panel is expected to rule on that case in February. If the decision goes against them, group members said it may be too expensive to appeal.

The second suit, which claims the store's size and traffic plan conflict with the city's comprehensive plan, would be even more expensive and time-consuming. "We don't even talk about that," said Gladwin. "It's a pretty positive group."

Both Skaaland and Gladwin said if they do not prevail in February, the group will continue to raise funds.

"There are a lot of interested parties out there willing to donate," said Gladwin. "Mostly people from here, people who are concerned about the river or community culture."

Other advocacy groups, such as the Sierra Club and Sprawl-Busters Consultants, a Massachusetts group that opposes big-box retailers, have offered support and assistance, they said. Skaaland said the Tampa chapter of Wal-Mart Alliance for Reform Now (WARN) offered in November to help with organizing, education and technical support.

[Last modified December 17, 2005, 01:01:18]