Wal-Mart has run into a lulu of opposition in Honolulu. Recently, a member of the Honolulu City Council submitted a resolution that would take a 10.5 acre parcel that Wal-Mart wants for a “monster” superstore combination of a Wal-Mart with a Sam’s Club stacked on top, and instead designate the land “a major public facility” — park land. But Wal-Mart already has in-hand the necessary city permits to grade the land and build a foundation. The 315,000 s.f. combo store, with its 1,700 car 4 story parking lot, does not yet have an actual building permit, but the city is expected to give them one. The project has been opposed by residents, elected officials, city planners, and unions. A citizen’s group called CARD (citizens against reckless development) has managed to get the city’s Zoning Board to hold a hearing on January 30th. Residents have argued that the Sam’s Club is a wholesale business, and belongs in an industrial or district — not in one of the city’s most densely packed residential/commercial districts. The city’s lawyer has asked the Zoning Board to dismiss CARD’s appeal arguing that the Zoning Board lacks jurisdiction in the matter because the city hasn’t decided anything. The city’s request for dismissal will be taken up Dec. 12th. A large crowd of CARD supporters is expected. They have gathered more than 1,500 signatures against the monster store. Wal-Mart says its project will attract 17,200 car trips on a weekday average, and 12 container-trailer and 60 delivery-truck trips per day. Traffic has become a major issue in the debate. This kind of massive commercial development also conflicts with the city’s new Development Plan for the Primary Urban Center, which is still making its way through the city’s review process. The development plan calls for the regulation of “large shopping centers in order to reduce traffic and parking impacts on the surrounding neighborhood.” The Honolulu Weekly reports that state Sen.Carol Fukunaga has called for an Environmental Impact Study of the project. “I don’t think people realize how big this thing is,” Fukunaga told the paper. “The big issues haven’t been addressed, and I don’t see how the city can accept that no additional assessments need to be done before finalizing the project. Calling for an EIS is the city administration’s responsibility, certainly before the project gets any additional permits.” The United Food & Commercial Workers Union, which has aggressively opposed the project, says Honolulu is “the guinea pig,” for Wal-Mart’s push into urban centers. Wal-Mart responded to the union protests by saying: “There needs to be a distinction drawn between the legitimate concerns of the neighborhood and those of the unions. The unions have sent out representatives from the West Coast to stir up opposition to Wal-Mart. They’ve been trying to unionize our stores for a long time and have failed. Now, unfortunately, they’re trying to stop stores from opening altogether, to the detriment of consumers.” The parcel Wal-Mart wants is located in the Sheridan Tract district — a mix of old bungalows and walk-up apartments laid out on a quaint, miniature grid of streets. It’s an urban scale that is totally incompatible with a Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club super combo.
For more background on Wal-Mart’s attempt to shoehorn this project into the urban core of Honolulu, contact [email protected]. For other archived stories about Hawaii’s battle with big box sprawl, search this database by “Hawaii”.
