On June 21st, the Albuquerque City Council handed Wal-Mart it’s second major defeat in as many weeks, when the County voted to “put the brakes” on a planned Wal-Mart supercenter on the west side of the city. According to the Albuquerque Journal, the Council voted to grant a neighborhood appeal that challenged a zoning change for a 62 acre development called West Bluff Center. But it was Wal-Mart who lost the bluff. Last week residents in Tijeras, NM celebrated a victory over Wal-Mart after a protracted two year battle to keep the company out of the East Mountain region (see newflash below). In the latest Albuquerque vote, the Wal-Mart developer now has the option of appealing the City Council’s decision and going to state District Court. One City Councilor said he voted down the plan because he was worried about the impact of intense development on the area’s roadways. The newspaper said the developer was “visibly upset” after the meeting, and declared that “I won’t be doing any infill projects, I won’t be doing anything Downtown either”. Ironically, the developer was part of a city DowntownActini Team revitalization project. This west side Wal-Mart would have been their largest supercenter at 220,000 s.f. An unnamed home improvement store was also slated for the site. Joe Valles, who opposed the development on behalf of 10 neighborhood associations, said the Wal-Mart plan was “too intensive and detrimental to the entire community” and did not conform with the city’s strategic land use plans. Residents complained that the 520,000 s.f. development would empty cars out through one exit onto one of the city’s busiest intersections.
The developer’s company in this case is called “Geltmore, Inc.” The word “gelt” in Yiddish, means “money”. More money? For further information about the battle on the west side of Albuquerque, contact Bob McCannon at [email protected].
