Wal-Mart withdraws plan for superstore

Faced with opposition to its site west of U.S. 19, the developer bows out just hours before a commission meeting to discuss a land use change.

By JOSH ZIMMER and BRIDGET HALL GRUMET

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 28, 2000

CRYSTAL RIVER -- Billy Mitchell did not expect to be knocking on neighbors' doors Tuesday afternoon. They were all supposed to see each other in Inverness for a 5:20 p.m. public hearing before the county commissioners on a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter west of U.S. 19.

But developers seeking a comprehensive land use change for Wal-Mart abruptly bowed out before the meeting, saving Mitchell and handfuls of others the trip.

Instead, they could celebrate. For now, the tract of thick wetlands and forest separating residents from noise and traffic will remain intact.

"This is a victory for our comprehensive plan," Mitchell said. "I believe the Wal-Mart people concluded they could not get by the county, that there was too much against them."

Wal-Mart representatives were scheduled Tuesday to make a final plea for a land use change before the commission. But several hours before the public hearing, Tampa land use lawyer Bryan Sykes faxed a two-sentence letter to county planners saying the developer, Heritage Development/Crystal River Limited Partnership, was bowing out.

In a proposal criticized by some residents and environmentalists, Heritage wanted the land use designation on the 33-acre tract changed from low-intensity coastal and lakes to general commercial. Representatives were trying to win over the commissioners, county planners and residents after a similar proposal was criticized last year by the state Department of Community Affairs.

The report said the project would have violated coastal protections put in place under the county's comprehensive land use plan. Despite the developer's efforts to present changes in the plan as making it more environmentally friendly to wetlands, county planners remained firmly opposed.

A Wal-Mart spokesman based out of corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., deferred comments to local representatives. Sykes did not return a call seeking comment.

The public hearing scheduled Tuesday was to have been a crucial test for the developers. The county's Planning and Development Review Board voted recently to send the project to the commissioners for their review but there were indications the commissioners would not pass the plan on to DCA, the next step in the process.

After the developer's first presentation to the commission this month, Commission Chairman Brad Thorpe indicated he remained skeptical the project could be altered to meet county staff's concerns. On Tuesday, Commissioner Gary Bartell said he would have voted against the supercenter, just as he did last year.

"I believe the comprehensive plan needs to stay intact . . . and I believe it would have been a huge mistake" to approve the project, Bartell said. "It's just the wrong project on the wrong piece of property.

"I think just because infrastructure of water and sewer is coming into the coastal area does not mean we change the zoning from resident to commercial. That infrastructure we're putting in is to take care of existing residential development."

Wal-Mart is not out of options in west Citrus. Other pieces of land exist east of U.S. 19 that would not attract so much opposition, including the tract at the corner of U.S. 19 and Venable Street where Lowe's once planned its own superstore, county planners said Tuesday.

Wal-Mart continues to plan a supercenter off State Road 44 west of Inverness at the former SMI construction materials site. Wal-Mart spokeswoman Daphne Davis recently said the company plans to start construction early next year.

Mitchell would not refer to Wal-Mart's sudden withdrawal as a victory for residents against a big corporate opponent. He credited both county planners and his neighbors for making Wal-Mart see the light.

He urged the property owner to bequeath the land to the public for use as a park or a preservation area.

"The community is not against Wal-Mart," he said. "I think they recognized the community did not want a Wal-Mart store on this location."

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