Almost everywhere Wal-Mart wants to go these days, the good corporate citizens run into people who don’t want a thing to do with them. Here’s a report this week from citizens in the town of Avondale Estates, Georgia: “Wal-Mart has purchased a vacant mall in unincorporated Dekalb County, Georgia, and has asked the City of Avondale Estates to annex in the property, which borders the city limits. The city commission of Avondale Estates can annex the property without public input, but currently the property is zoned for mixed use, and that will require two public hearings to change it to commercial. The mayor of Avondale Estates and a 4-member panel seem resigned to the fact that Wal-Mart will be coming, and some commissioners even favor it based on increased tax revenue and a “study” that supposedly says the Wal-Mart will be good for the area. However, citizens are concerned about the impact on traffic and the local economy. Currently, Wal-Mart does not have any stores “inside the perimeter” of the Atlanta metropolitan area. “The perimeter” is Interstate 285, which circumscribes the city of Atlanta as well as small communities that border the city such as Avondale Estates and Decatur. Both of these communities are like small towns and have intact town centers with lots of locally owned, thriving business. The study cited above estimates that the Wal-Mart will bring an additional 11,000 cars daily through the residential area that borders the property. Some citizens and the mayor think that the conditions that they made in the agreement to annex the property Wal-Mart now owns will make it an acceptable deal. For instance, “requiring” an all-brick structure, trees around the perimeter of the property, and only allowing entrances on two of the roads that border the property. Others believe that once Wal-Mart gets the proper zoning and permits, getting the “1000-pound gorilla,” as the mayor called it, to cooperate will be tricky.”
The citizens in Avondale Estates fighting Wal-Mart say “We need some help to get people mobilized and to believe that we can make a difference.” Local officials in the town are pretty much “in the tank” with Wal-Mart, and think all they can do is get the retailer to agree to some minor cosmetics. Whether the Wal-Mart is covered with a veneer of brick or straw, it’s going to change the surrounding residential land values forever. However, there is no such thing as a “right to annexation”, and certainly no “right to rezone” land, especially if local residents will be harmed by the placement of a huge retail building in their midst. Homeowners in the area bought in thinking this land would be used for “mixed use”, and now the city is preparing to betray them. For local contacts in Avondale Estates, contact [email protected].
