Wal-Mart takes city to court

As expected, the giant retailer filed a petition in court, hoping to force commissioners to reverse their decision preventing construction of a supercenter.

BY NATALIE P. McNEAL
nmcneal@herald.com

Wal-Mart wants the courts to toss out the Miramar City Commission's decision to kill the giant retailer's bid to build a supercenter on Flamingo Road.

Attorneys for Wal-Mart have filed a petition in Broward Circuit Court that argues Miramar commissioners ''failed to apply the correct law'' when they denied a rezoning request Sept. 7.

By going to court, the retailer is hoping for another crack at building a 220,859-square-foot supercenter on the northeast corner of Miramar Parkway and Flamingo Road.

To do that, the city must change the zoning on the 29-acre site from rural to community business.

Hundreds of Miramar residents, mostly from the Monarch Lakes subdivision, waged a successful campaign against Wal-Mart. They descended on City Hall, picketed the site and sent e-mails to commissioners.

Wal-Mart's petition alleges the site's rural zoning was meant to be temporary, and that in that part of the city, a community business is allowed.

In the petition, which is similar to a lawsuit, the store complains that newly elected Commissioner John Moore should have been disqualified from voting because he had shown bias by voting against the proposal when he was a member of the city's Planning and Zoning Board. The petition argues the store was ``denied fair dealing.''

In addition, the city relied too heavily on evidence from witnesses who testified on behalf of the homeowners, according to the petition.

City Attorney Jamie Cole said he was not surprised by Wal-Mart's petition.

''We feel that the issues that they raise do not have legal merit, and we intend to vigorously defend the City Commission's decision,'' Cole said.

An attorney for Wal-Mart could not be reached for comment Monday.

Over the past five years, Wal-Mart has made a strong push to build supercenters in South Florida. But the mega-retailer has met resistance from some Broward cities, including Davie and North Lauderdale.

''It's unfortunate that this is being done, but it's not anything that we didn't expect,'' said Robert Russell, president of the Monarch Lakes homeowners association.

''Big corporations need to move into communities that want them there, rather than exercise their muscle,'' he said.

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