Add another slam-dunk to the citizen’s victory over Wal-Mart list. “Very early on we were told, ‘You can’t take on Wal-Mart,’ ” one resident of Greenwood, Indiana was told. “This proves you can.” According to today’s Indianapolis Star newspaper, Wal-Mart is giving up its fight to locate a store on a road ironically called Olive Branch. The giant retailer’s proposal stimulated a battle over Olive Branch road that ended today. The company says it is now looking for another location in Greenwood, but neighbors of the project are celebrating a victory nonetheless. “I didn’t think we’d win,” said Shirley Brown, who lives next to the Route 135 site. “That was the reaction of my neighbors and friends, that we couldn’t win. I can’t wait to get home to call them.” As soon as Wal-Mart announced its pull out, the Greenwood Town Council voted unanimously to halt the project. The newspaper called the citizen’s group effort a “grass-roots army that lobbied for that outcome.” Wal-Mart has announced plans for 10 supercenters in the Indianapolis area over the next three years. Lynn Gray, an attorney who worked with the White River Citizens United, said her group would continue to monitor Wal-Mart’s plans for the region. “It is a victory,” Gray told The Star, “but I think the real challenges lie ahead of us.” The citizens group argued that traffic would not be manageable at the proposed supercenter site. Wal-Mart’s lawyer said the company agreed that the store would affect traffic and nearby neighborhoods. “Wal-Mart has decided . . . this was not the place,” their attorney said. “This shows in this case they’re willing to work with the community.”
For an earlier story about the battle for Olive Branch Road, search this Newsflash page by the word “Greenwood.”
