What other retailer in the world ever faces ballot questions to block their construction? The idea of citizens trying to stop a store using the ballot box never would have seemed necessary until Wal-Mart came along. Now, ballot questions are as common as cheap underwear in aisle six. This latest case is in Portsmouth, Michigan, where Wal-Mart wants to build a 187,000 s.f. supercenter with gas station. Local residents gathered the 215 signatures needed to put the question of a Wal-Mart to a voter referendum. They have formed a group, the Friends of Portsmouth Township, to overturn the Township Board’s unanimous vote last December to rezone farmland near Cass Avenue for a supercenter. “People need to take the time to vote that day,” a spokesman told the Bay City Times. “They need to get informed because once a Wal-Mart is built, it’s there forever. There’s no going back.” The newspaper repeated Wal-Mart’s contention that the superstore will employ 450 people earning an average of $9.50 an hour. But these figures do not subtract the jobs that will be lost elsewhere, especially in existing grocery stores, where union workers can make $8 or more per hour than a Wal-Mart worker. Opponents say the store will increase crime, noise, pollution and raise taxes to pay for added police and fire protection. “It’s going to destroy the small-town atmosphere of our community,” said one neighbor. “It’s going to make it look like every other town that has been destroyed by urban sprawl. … It’s sad. We need to stand up and save something.” Opponents say the township ignored an environmental impact study commissioned by the Friends of Portsmouth Township that suggested the store would have detrimental effects on the environment, including damage to wetlands and excessive water runoff. If voters reject the referendum, residents say they may take the case to court “because the board acted arbitrarily and capriciously.”
Whenever a local planning or zoning board or city council votes to rezone land, it is an opportunity for residents to appeal the rezoning to court, and thereby gain another six months to a year of fighting time. Rezoning is a discretionary act. No developer has a right to rezone land. Local officials often rezone property in a very sloppy, and inadquate manner, ignoring criteria in their own code. For local contacts in Portsmouth, Michigan, email [email protected]
