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CLEAR Temp: 87 °F Wind: NW at 8 mph Wednesday, July 9, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend June 13, 2003 Central Point hosts a big-box brouhaha Packed council chamber echoes with the pros and cons of allowing a Wal-Mart super-center into town By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT — Although no decision was reached Thursday night, it’s clear that a super-sized Wal-Mart won’t be coming to the city without a fight. Council chambers seemed to shrink as residents, developers and others in a standing-room-only crowd endured nearly three hours of debate against — but mostly in favor — of a Wal-Mart supercenter at a 21-acre site on East Pine Street. The issue was an emergency hearing to modify an existing ordinance pertaining to large anchor businesses within community shopping centers. The proposal, officially submitted at noon, would put a 207,000-square-foot super center at the site at the corner of Hamrick Road and East Pine Street. The council continued discussion of the issue to a June 26 council meeting. Advertisement For four years, property owner Naumes Properties LLC had been unable to secure an anchor business for what has been in the works as the Pear Blossom Center. City planning director Tom Humphrey urged council members to stick to original plans for the site, similar to those of the Mountain View Plaza, in which anchor business size is around 60,000 square feet. "This isn’t the first time many of you have handled something controversial. Many of you were elected to office to manage what had been perceived as runaway growth," he said, citing the in-progress amphitheater greeted by citizens with months of debate and a controversial anti-smoking ordinance. "What you see before you is not a proposal for a specific project, that will come later ... what this amendment is intended to do is reestablish the maximum size of that anchor tenant." Though the council agenda may have listed the issue at hand as clarification of an ordinance defining the term community shopping center, audience members were clearly in attendance to clarify whether they were for or against the retail giant coming to town. A large percentage of the more than 60 audience members were sure to have their say. Central Point resident Marvin Evans said he was in favor of a Wal-Mart for the city to introduce the competition only a handful of audience members seemed to fear. "I’m on a fixed income and I have to drive over to Wal-Mart and Food4Less to do my shopping because Albertson’s and Ray’s are way too expensive for me," he said. Central Point resident Becca Craft, who lives less than a mile from the Naumes property, told the council she liked shopping at Wal-Mart. She just didn’t want one in her back yard. "I want to see the property develop. I just don’t want it to be so big it has its own ZIP code. Central Point doesn’t need to be a retail magnet. That’s not why people moved here," she said. "I think the residents of the city would much rather see it developed as the community shopping center it was intended to be. The city needs to give a specific number (of square footage) so that future developers will know what’s expected." Cheryl Walker, a former state representative, pointed out she had been a long-time supporter of small business, but also of bringing growth and business opportunities in general to southern Oregon. Walker called Central Point a vital trucking hub with a location on the interstate and near the airport. She felt a Wal-Mart store would add a great deal of revenue and jobs to the valley and was opposed to the 80,000-square-foot restriction. "Eighty thousand square feet in an ordinance may as well be zero. You might as well hang a sign at the entrance to the community that says ‘Zero. We do not want more businesses.’ " Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected]. Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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