Wal-Mart ponders new site

After its Barclay Avenue plan causes a fuss, the retailer eyes a spot near the parkway.

By TOM MARSHALL, Times Staff Writer
Published December 29, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT County Comissioner Diane Rowden.

SPRING HILL - By all accounts, Hernando County is Wal-Mart country, with three supercenters so far and probably more on the way.

But even here, there are limits.

On Friday, the retail giant backed down from a brewing legal fight with the county, saying it would move a proposed fourth supercenter from Barclay Avenue to a possible new site on County Line Road near the Suncoast Parkway.

"We would rather work in a positive way with the county, rather than going down that road," said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Quenta Vettel. "In a sense of goodwill and working with the county, we've decided to not pursue that site anymore."

Last May, the County Commission voted unanimously to oppose the Barclay plan. Commissioners cited traffic concerns in the densely populated neighborhood off Spring Hill Drive, as well as the proposed center's proximity to Powell Middle School.

Wal-Mart responded with threats of legal action against the county, and it initiated mediation. But those efforts quickly reached an impasse, Vettel said.

"We would like to look elsewhere and not continue the litigation, which, of course, we could have done," she added. "I think that we still believe we had made the case that we had the right to build there."

County Commissioner Diane Rowden called it a victory, sort of.

"It certainly sends a message that if you're willing to stand up for what you believe in, you can stand up to big corporations like Wal-Mart and succeed," she said. "I'm really proud of our vote."

She wasn't quite so happy to learn that the company still has plans to build another supercenter elsewhere.

"Uh-oh," Rowden said, voicing concerns about a site on County Line Road at Mariner Boulevard that the company has been eyeing. The roads are even worse down there, she said.

"We can't base our decisions on whether we like the store or whether there's enough of them," she hastened to add. "I'm basing my conditions on health, safety and welfare."

But Vettel, the Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said the company's latest alternative site for the supercenter is further down County Line Road near the Suncoast Parkway.

The company has not yet signed a contract on that parcel, she said.

Tom Marshall can be reached at tmarshall@sptimes.com or 352 848-1431.

"It certainly sends a message that if you're willing to stand up for what you believe in, you can stand up to big corporations like Wal-Mart and succeed. I'm really proud of our vote."

- Diane Rowden, county commissioner

[Last modified December 28, 2007, 20:04:13]