The weather is getting rough for big box retailers in the Pacific northwest. Residents in Sequim, Washington have organized to fight off a proposed Wal-Mart supercenter and Home Depot project. On March 8th, a citizens group called “Sequim First” is sponsoring a community demonstration against the Wal-Mart project. Here’s an account from one resident: “I live in the small community of Sequim, WA, located in the pacific northwest. I never thought the demographics would support a big box store like a Wal-Mart. Unfortunately our present city council doesn’t agree, they have rezoned areas and made it possible for big box stores. As far as I know every aspect has been approved for the Wal-Mart superstore (including a grocery store) except they are still waiting on an environmental impact study. They also have to check compliance with the state mandated restrictions, like sewers, etc. Down the road we are also facing the same problem with Home Depot.” Another resident writes: “I just joined Sequim First. Our situation is the developers/city council want to build a Wal-mart on one side of the road and Home Depot and Albertsons on the other. The city council already approved it and sent it to the planning board. One of the city council members is a realtor and pushed the zoning through and then sold the land “but there’s no conflict of interest.” Local residents say the superstore project is too big, and in the wrong place.
We’ll have more updates from Sequim coming in future weeks. Similar battles are going on in Yakima, WA and Hillsboro, OR. For more details search this database by those towns. Local contacts are available by contacting [email protected]
