Newsflash reported on January 14, 2000 (see below) that the Seminole County (Florida) Commissioners had voted 5-0 to block a Wal-Mart superstore in Sandford, near the Lake Forest subdivision. On February 8th, lawyers for the developer filed a lawsuit in Seminole County Circuit Court, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The newspaper now reports (3/15) that the owners of the site proposed for a supercenter have dropped plans for a Wal-Mart and are now pursuing a mix of commercial development and housing. Plans for a 210,000 s.f. Wal-Mart did not sit too well with area residents, leading to the store’s disapproval vote on January 11th. Now, the circuit court case will be put on hold, pending the developer’s submission of a new site plan in April. But the controversial Wal-Mart plan has been “ruled out” according to published reports. One of the Lake Forest residents who led the charge against Wal-Mart, Gene McKay, was quoted as saying: “I think that from a comparison point of view, just about anything is preferable to a big box retailer. We do feel that it should be something that fits into the area.”
The residents of Lake Forest/Sanford, Florida have slam-dunked Wal-Mart. The lawyer for the county did not know the exact configuration for the new proposal, but he concluded: “It will not be a big box retailer. That’s out.”
