Once again, Wal-Mart’s inability to work with neighbors has led to a courtroom. On June 10, 2008, Sprawl-Busters reported that the village of East Dundee, Illinois was in an uproar because a real estate listing showed that the Wal-Mart discount store # 1531 in the village was being advertised as available for lease or sale by the winter of 2007, and that a larger superstore was going to be built in neighboring West Dundee. East Dundee Village President Jerald Bartels met with local Wal-Mart officials, who seemed as surprised as he was. “We have no official word from Wal-Mart that anything is happening at this point,” officials said at the time. But Wal-Mart officials eventually told the village it was shutting down its store in East Dundee to move to West Dundee. The store in West Dundee will be less than 2 miles from the existing store in East Dundee. One local official described Wal-Mart’s move from East Dundee as a “body blow” to village finances. The East Dundee store generates about $600,000 a year in sales tax revenues for the village — a gross number, before subtracting out the substantial municipal expenses, such as police, fire and road maintenance. East Dundee Village President Dan O’Leary said his community would lose 15% of its service-related funds when Wal-Mart shuts down. “I am guessing we could see a $600,000 cut from our $4 million operating budget,” O’Leary said. “That could mean a reduction in services like police and public works, and then we just run out of places to cut back.” West Dundee officials seemed to have little qualms about stealing revenues from their neighbor. West Dundee’s Village Manager admitted that Wal-Mart was negotiating with General Growth Properties Inc., the owner of Spring Hill Mall, for a mall out lot that was commercially zoned. To make matters worse, it appears that East Dundee will make the transfer of location possible through a deal between the two villages in which the East provides sewer services for the West. So the West will be able to offer sewer to the new 186,000 s.f. Wal-Mart stolen from East Dundee, by using East Dundee’s sewer system. By June of 2008, two years after the East versus West controversy began, and as the village board in West Dundee prepared to consider Wal-Mart’s application, the Courier News reported that West Dundee residents were speaking out against the superstore. The citizen’s group, Dundee Neighbors, which was formed this past spring, has dominated the hearings thus far. “We just don’t think that a Wal-Mart Supercenter is a right fit,” a spokeswoman for Dundee Neighbors told the Chicago Tribune. “There’s really no need for it in our community.” The West Dundee Trustees voted unanimously to approve the final engineering and landscaping plans for the Wal-Mart Supercenter. “It’s what they call their ‘green’ building with skylights,” one Trustee told the Courier News. “It isn’t your blue-looking Wal-Mart.” The color of the store seemed to be more important that the neighbor’s strident opposition to the plan. Wal-Mart will build a store with “oak” and “coffee” colors, and the new Wal-Mart logo. Citizen comments got the village to require that the rear light standards be lowered from 40 feet to 30 feet, and some buffering for the loading dock to shield it from the nearby homes — but these changes will not mitigate the harm done to residential abuttors. Dundee Neighbors remained upset by the potential increased traffic, the increased crime, increased storm water runoff and lack of any market need for another Wal-Mart so close to the East Dundee store. This week, Dundee Neighbors shared the following press release with Sprawl-Busters: “Families of the Dundee Neighbors group have filed a complaint in Kane County Chancery Court today. The complaint is intended to challenge the recent Village of West Dundee Board of Trustees decision to grant a Special Use for a Planned Unit Development for a Wal-Mart Supercenter on Huntley Road near Route 31. ‘Putting a twenty-four hour development this size up against homes is irresponsible,’ said Julie Reed, one of the plaintiffs on the complaint. ‘The process was fraught with problems, and we think that the Board decided wrongly. What’s worse, as our questions got more intense, the Board rushed to a decision, rather than slowing the process down to allow for greater transparency.’ The complaint alleges that the Board failed to enforce its own ordinances, and improperly granted a Special Use permit for a Planned Unit Development. The complaint also points out the failure to meet basic standards for a Special Use.”
The complaint is just the first step to a broader effort to bring transparency and community input to planning decisions, according to Dundee Neighbors. Kristin Geati, another of the plaintiffs, added, “Too much of the panning process is obscure to the public. If taxpayers felt they could positively impact the process, then they would be more involved. Right now, it is a developer’s game. Our Village should be more active in
partnering with the community to pursue shared goals and values.” The Dundee Neighbors are planning a series of events to raise awareness about local issues and encourage participation in government by residents. There is really no need for a Wal-Mart in West Dundee. Historically, this site has provided a transition zone between shopping uses and 205-homes in a nearby subdivision. Dundee Neighbors were literally fighting for the future value of their homes. The property is adjacent to a park with baseball fields, tennis courts and a playground. Neighbors know that if a huge retail project encroaches on this buffer zone, that their homes will be harder to resell, and will lose value — not to mention having a noisy and congested neighbor. This land was rezoned in 2000 from residential to commercial, according to the Tribune, for another big box: a Meijer’s store. That project fell through, but the rezoning left the property open for another big box. “It had a residential zoning, but it was never intended to be developed residentially, because it was part of the Spring Hill Mall holdings,” said West Dundee’s village manager. But the mall owners had no right to a rezoning. The neighbors hired land use attorney Brian O’Connor, who all but conceded defeat when he told the Tribune, “They understand it’s not a matter of if it will happen, but when it will happen. But it needs to be consistent with the residential character of that area.” The fact that the store is going to be coffee-colored isn’t going to change the damage this store will do to the quality of life in the neighborhoods, and the value of homes. Readers are urged to visit the Dundee Neighors website at DundeeNeighbors.blogspot.com. to find out how you can help them in their court case.
