Miramar votes against Wal-Mart at end of marathon meeting

Posted on Thursday, September 08, 2005

Miramar votes against Wal-Mart at end of marathon meeting

BY NATALIE P. McNEAL
nmcneal@herald.com

Miramar commissioners voted 4-1 early today, with Winston Barnes dissenting, to deny a zoning change needed to build a new Wal-Mart Supercenter at the corner of Miramar Parkway and Flamingo Road.

The vote came after a contentious meeting that lasted more than five hours and attracted more than 300 residents who formed a standing-room-only crowd at the Miramar City Hall. The meeting started at 7 p.m. Wednesday but the vote denying the company's bid did not come until about 12:50 a.m. today.

Officials on both sides agreed after the vote that the next battleground in the case might be a courtroom.

Residents of nearby subdivisions, especially Monarch Lakes, have been fighting the plan for months, saying that it would lead to increased traffic and crime and lower property property values. They have created anti-Wal-Mart clothing and a letter-writing campaign, and they have dedicated the Monarch Lakes website to the effort to stop the world's largest retailer.

Wednesday was the designated night for commissioners to vote, but by 11:30 p.m. they had heard from Wal-Mart's attorney and the neighbors' lawyer. But they had not yet voted.

By then, some tired residents had already started heading home as television news cameras recorded the meeting.

Earlier in the evening, Wal-Mart's lawyer had asked newly elected Commissioner John Moore to abstain from voting because he had voted against the project when he was a member of the city's planning and zoning board.

Moore declined to abstain, declaring that he could be fair and impartial.

The zoning decision for Wal-Mart is ''quasijudicial,'' meaning that commissioners are supposed to make their decision based strictly on facts presented at the meeting.

Wal-Mart wanted the City Commission to change the zoning for its site from rural to community business so the company could build a 24-hour, 200,000-square-foot supercenter at the northeast corner of Miramar Parkway and Flamingo Road.

Commissioners approved the proposal in an initial vote in June but postponed the final vote to get more research on the store's impact. The reports found that the store does agree with the city's deniedapprovalfuture land-use plans and the majority of the development code.

City staffers also recommended 24 conditions Wal-Mart should meet.

They included limitations on the hours of truck deliveries, keeping uniformed security personnel on site and no Wal-Mart trucks on sections of Monarch Lakes Boulevard and Miramar Boulevard.

The company already agreed to eliminate a tire and lube center and a liquor store from the plans.

The battle has been more than just talk. Since Wal-Mart began its push for west Miramar, both sides have launched campaigns.

The Monarch Lakes subdivision, across the street from the proposed site, has a website, www.monarchlakes.org, devoted to its campaign. Homeowners have picketed City Hall, worn ''No Wal-Mart'' buttons and adopted the slogan ``Monarch Lakes, not Wal-Mart Lakes.''

In response, this summer, Wal-Mart mailed out more than 40,000 glossy fliers, lobbying on behalf of the supercenter moving to the city.

The company said it got back 1,400 cards from people in favor of the store.

The brochures were created by a Texas firm that has also worked on advertising campaigns for President Bush.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/12586588.htm