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City welcomes Wal-Mart store with open armsBy DAN DeWITT
© St. Petersburg Times, BROOKSVILLE -- Wal-Mart plans to open a supercenter in Brooksville, meaning the company could soon have a total of four stores, three of them supercenters, in Hernando County. Unlike the County Commission -- which is discussing design requirements that might doom the proposed supercenter on U.S. 19 -- Brooksville officials all welcome the project in their city. "Oh, we're so happy to have them come in," said council member Mary Staib. "We're not going to turn them away. We're not going to make it unfriendly for business, that's for sure." The proposed site, between Barnett and Wiscon roads on the west side of U.S. 41, is already zoned for commercial development, according to City Manager Dick Anderson. Because there are few apparent obstacles to the development, it could open as soon as early next year. He said the store will include the basic features of the existing supercenter on State Road 50 near Mariner Boulevard -- sections for groceries and general goods, a fast-food restaurant and a gardening center. But it will cover only about 160,000 square feet compared to 200,000 square feet in the other supercenter, which is 5 miles west. Wal-Mart also operates a smaller, traditional store on U.S. 19 and a distribution center in Ridge Manor. Staib said she is not concerned about the fate of Brooksville's other stores near the Wal-Mart site. "We can never have too many stores to shop in," she said. Eventually, though, the area may have fewer stores because some will close in the face of competition from Wal-Mart, said Brad Bates, a member of the new Naturecoast Group of the Sierra Club. He pointed out that the former Kash n' Karry, just north of the proposed Wal-Mart, is still empty and the nearby former Kmart location is only half-occupied by Big Lots. "Wal-Mart tries to pitch the idea of additional tax revenues and the jobs, but you have to think of all the jobs that are going to be lost from the other stores," Bates said. "I just heard about it and I was shocked," said Bates, who lives just east of Brooksville. "I don't know why they want this proliferation of Wal-Marts in Hernando County." The company wants it because its current location is overloaded, Anderson said. He said company representatives told him the crowded conditions at the store discouraged potential shoppers, especially those who have to drive several miles. The market size is expected to increase because of the ongoing widening of U.S. 41 and residential developments planned to the south. Wal-Mart officials did not respond to a telephone request from the Times to discuss the project. The city wants it, mainly, because it will pay taxes, said Mayor Joe Johnston III. Its money would be especially welcome considering the possible relocation of Brooksville Regional Hospital, which pays no property taxes but considerable intangible taxes and will probably lead several related businesses out of the city. "It's a good source of tax revenue -- a large commercial project that pays taxes, when we appear to be losing a large commercial project that pays some taxes. This will help to offset that," Johnston said. The city will be able to provide service to the facility with its existing utility lines, though the company will probably tap into a water line the city plans to lay along U.S. 41 for additional fire protection, Johnston said. Though it will not need a zoning change, it has indicated it will ask for some variances in code requirements, including one to allow smaller parking spaces. The, city in turn, is requesting that the company work to save some of the large trees that now grow on the property. The city's landscaping requirements will also guarantee that the store will avoid the "traditional sea of asphalt" associated with the parking lots of such stores, Anderson said.
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From today's Hernando Times |
