Last August, Sprawl-Busters received an email from citizens in Hayden, Idaho, that Walmart was proposing a 32 acre retail development in their neighborhood. “This development will surround an existing senior living facility on three sides,” they wrote, “and single family residents across the street. Part of the property they propose to build on is currently zoned Residential and will require a zoning change. I am trying to initiate local opposition. Our city’s engineer informed me that the developer presented them with a traffic study saying there would be no impact on our streets.” The next correspondence we received informed us that Wal-Mart had come before the city on December 18th.: “I thought you would like to know that last Wednesday night Hayden, Idaho’s Planning & Zoning Commission voted 5-0 to reject CLC Associates’ (Wal-Mart) request for an amendment to our Comprehensive Plan. This amendment would have allowed them to rezone residential multi-family land in order to build a supercenter the size of five acres. This is not the final decision but a recommendation to our city council who must deal the death blow to this proposal. We were able to convince P&Z by attracting over 600 residents to the public hearing, another 300 to the meeting when the decision was made, convince both of our local papers to come out in opposition and also our Chamber of Commerce. We also have collected over 1400 signatures on petitions in opposition. Hayden Idaho fully intends on being the next town that says NO TO WAL-MART.”
For more information on the Wal-Mart uprising in Hayden, Idaho, contact [email protected]