Well, the city council voted tonight, and Walmart DID NOT receive approval to have the Parley's Way property zoned for use as a big box center. The vote was 6-1 against granting the rezone. If you're interested, you can read about the outcome here. Woo HOO!
In general, the council said that the people who live closest to a property know best how the property should be zoned. Walmart will probably begin to remodel the current Kmart store now, but at least they won't be allowed to build a new, awful box that will be on the property for another 50 years.
Let's hear it for democracy!
Hooray! If you lived in Columbia it would be up for debate for 10+ years and still not resolved. Then the management company would be bought out, and no one would know what's going on, and you'd still have a vacant building just sitting... So hooray for reasonable democracy! And for doing the right thing!
ReplyDeletePretty excellent news! And a great op-ed too, Momly. Internet comments make me sick to my stomach, no matter what side the comments come from. The anonymity and instant gratification provided by these sites obliterates whatever sense of tact/civility/coherence that the comment writer may have at one point possessed. And that makes me sad. I do think it's pretty great that the city council listened to the local residents though!
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