Activists in Bangor, Maine have a victory to celebrate this week, but it is likely to be a short one. According to the Bangor Daily News, the developer of a proposed Wal-Mart supercenter in Bangor (see newflash below 11/12/00) has officially withdrawn its application. The Widewaters Group, which is based in New York state, pulled back in order to “further evaluate the issues raised at public hearings.” That means the hearing didn’t go well and that developers are unsure of their votes from public officials. Widewaters needs more time to tweak a few architectural details and come back in with a “new” or “fresh” proposal that is more “sensitive to local needs” etc. In this case, Wal-Mart wants to put up the biggest store they make — a 224,000 s.f. superstore. In fact, the company has already listed its existing store in Bangor on its “available” buildings list. This particular location has drawn fire from environmentalists and local residents because it is near the Penjajawoc Marsh. The Bangor Area Citizens Organized for Responsible Development (BACORD) is sponsoring a community forum and slide show about the marsh to indicate how delicate an ecosystem it is. BACORD has indicated that it has no intention of letting down its guard while Widewaters is still in town. “We are certainly going to keep on top of this issue, and continue doing our work on educating people,” said Valerie Carter, one of the organizers of BACORD.
BACORD hopes that when Widewaters “further evaluates” their plans, that the evaluation will move them further and further back to upstate New York.Bangor already has a Wal-Mart, and having it shut down would be no major loss to anyone. But there is only one Penjajawoc Marsh in the world, and once you shut it down, you can’t convince Mother Nature to open it back up if Wal-Mart closes their supercenter. One could expect a Wal-Mart store to be around a decade or so, but the marsh has been around forever. So the choice is: A Mart, or A Marsh. Many residents in Bangor might prefer holding on to their marsh. For more details on BACORD, contact info@sprawl-busters.com.
