Our correspondents in Martinez, California report that on September 18, 2002, the City council adopted the first Neighborhood Business Preservation Ordinance (Big Box) that restricts the sale on non-taxable items to 5% of the floor space in stores 90,000 sq.ft.and larger. Martinez has a 125,000 sq. ft. Wal-Mart that could be expanded into a 150-200,000 sq.ft. supercenter. Wal-Mart supercenter formats include 55,000 sq.ft. of retail groceries and meat in addition to general merchandise. The ordinance was backed by labor unions including the United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 1179 (Martinez) and community preservationists. Wal-Mart has threatened the City with a referendum to try and rescind this ordinance, which is similar to other ordinances in other California towns, and related to a law that was passed by the state General Assembly, but vetoed by Governor Grey Davis.
For more information on the Martinez vote, contact [email protected]. Search this database by “Grey Davis” to find the story about the vetoed state law limited the sale of non-taxable items in big box formats.