I was pretty shocked that only Jamison voted for the Walmart plan at 69th and Cliff. While the neighborhood organizers had strong arguments against the plan, one fact remains the same, they had a legal right to build there. Hopefully someone interviews Jamison so he can give his reason as to why he voted for it. It seemed to me the vote was based on emotion and not fact. Could Walmart have offered a better plan? Of course they could have, but this seemed to be an ANTI-WALMART campaign from the beginning. To tell you the truth, I wish they wouldn’t build anymore stores in SF, but from what I can tell they crossed all of their T’s and dotted all of their I’s. Bizarre.
A local politician predicted it though, he told me a few weeks back that the council will vote against Walmart based on emotion, I just never thought it would be 90% of them.
Hopefully those who spoke out against and voted against take it one step farther and do not shop at Walmart either. But my guess is they like Walmart and will shop there as long as it is not in their neighborhood.
Lewis, I don’t live in that area, and I haven’t followed this that closely, but I don’t think they had a legal right to build there unless granted a variance.
The area is zoned commercial, so if it isn’t Hy-Vee or Walmart, it will be someone else. (anooner there was only a very small part of the propertly that would have had to have its zoning changed – the rest is already commercial).
Lewis was rumored to want to build on that intersection too, so if Walmart goes someplace else I wonder if those residents will object to Lewis. A strip mall is another obvious tenant, and a gas station with a super loud and annoying car wash would be very likely.
I must say I’m shocked the councilors rejected it, and it makes me wonder what Walmart’s next move will be. If they decide to head a few miles South and build outside of Sioux Falls city limits, we will lose out on millions upon millions of dollars in tax revenue every year… all because a few NIMBYs didn’t want the very same store that most of them are more than willing to drive across town to shop at.
It’s a frickin’ major intersection – it needs to be developed into commercial property, and if those residents think someone is going to build an apartment complex or a subdevelopment of homes there they are sadly mistaken.
Yeah, how stupid would we look if they decide to build outside of city limits?
Kermit was right.
Who are all these wannabe’s that want to belittle any one who was opposed to a big box store at this intersection?
The arguments advanced by those parties objecting to the rezoning based their arguments on the city ordinances and development plans. instead of displaying their ignorance, these commentators should be applauding the fact that citizens are standing up and exercisng their rights in a representative democracy.
Craig, thanks for the clarification. I suppose their next move would be to appeal, not build, build somewhere else or maybe redesign, if possible, so as to not build on the land outside commercial zone.
AT – Yup, he nailed that one!
Please, someone get Byerlies or Trader Joes to look at that spot. We need some variety and alternatives in our grocery stores. Can anyone lure or recruit them to come here?
I would actually commend the council for listening to the people for a change. Let’s see how long that lasts though.
Byerlies would be fantastic!
1. The plans Walmart submitted won’t have to be changed in order to buold there even zoned as it is – without a zoning change.
2. Not more than 5-6 weeks ago, Minnehaha County Commission lost a lawsuit for this same behavior – NOT FOLLOWING THERE OWN ZONING ORDINANCES, and making an emotion-based decision.
3. Go take a look at this area – there is not a single-family home within 1/2 mile. It’s all apartments around there. There are no backyards to be making up the BY part of the NIMBY’s attitude. It is PURE anti-WalMart.
4. Jamison was right – he was the only council member actually focused on the issue. Everyone else was focused on their own self-interests.
You will have to watch his KDLT interview today, he said essentially that, it should air later tonight.
Why else build a completely useless multimillion dollar road, round-about and fancy viaduct if we don’t drop a WalMart right there. All those good Christian Schoolers both elementary through college age are WalMart customers. WalMart right there would be so convenient for them to drop the kids and shop.
Aldi is scouting SF, so I suppose they could always consider that spot… but my money is still on a strip mall and gas station. Maybe even some classy fast food joint! 😉
Here’s my non-SouthDaCola, non-Detroit Lewis opinion on the matter. I don’t give a rat’s ass what they build there. I never drive by that place and live DT. Don’t care. I find it incredibly ignorant for people to build their homes next to an empty lot within the city limits and be P’off that Walmart wants to build next to them. Did you think a wildlife reserve was going in there?
I will say this, if Walmart wants to buy my property for a store, go for it, the entire block is zoned for you, and I am pretty sure you would have no resistance.
Great post by ruf, he’s correct..Jamison had the stones to actually vote correctly.
If I were a Walton I’d buy the site and donate it to the City for a rail siding.
L3wis, they need much more space than a City block. If they went in at all they’d take up half of what would come out if the tracks go. Which wouldn’t be all bad, unless your a fan of Sunshine.
Harrisburg will welcome them. Further south is a better location. Its where we’re moving to escape Sioux Falls events center tax increases.
Sy, I was being sarcastic.
“I find it incredibly ignorant for people to build their homes next to an empty lot within the city limits and be P’off that Walmart wants to build next to them.”
-l3wis
It was very recent that this site was zoned for the scale of commercial development to accommodate a Walmart. I find it incredibly irresponsible of zoning commission to radically change the long-term vision for this site without giving consideration to the people affected by this project — some of whom have lived there for over a decade.
If I lived there, I’d be pissed too. 10,000 extra car trips per day as the result of a Walmart (twice as much as any grocery store) would raise my hackles. And who gets to pay to widen the roads? Certainly not Walmart. Let’s face it. We already have ridiculous road maintenance costs. Walmart is only going to add to the burden.
85th & Minnesota would have been a much better site for Walmart, as the long-term vision for THAT site has long called the scale of commercial development that could accommodate a Walmart. What’s more, the roads there are already wide enough. 85th & Minnesota is where Walmart should built.
Now, I’m not saying the Council’s vote was right or wrong (actually probably was wrong, legally speaking). But to blame the neighborhood’s residents for having concerns? Really? That’s like pushing someone over, then calling him a cry-baby for complaining.
“It was very recent that this site was zoned for the scale of commercial development to accommodate a Walmart. I find it incredibly irresponsible of zoning commission to radically change the long-term vision for this site without giving consideration to the people affected by this project — some of whom have lived there for over a decade. ”
And where was the neighborhood resistance when this rezoning occurred? That would have been the time to fight. Oh, but at that time it was HyVee that wanted the site.
HyVee and Walmart are two different animals. A Walmart store typically generates over twice as much traffic as a typical grocery store. It’s about expectations.
Doesn’t matter if it is Hyvee or Walmart, ‘someone’ applied for the rezoning to change it to retail, it just happened to be HyVee. If the residents of that neighborhood had a problem with a ‘retail’ store going there, they should have said something at the time. Now they are only backpedaling.
“And who gets to pay to widen the roads? Certainly not Walmart. Let’s face it. We already have ridiculous road maintenance costs. Walmart is only going to add to the burden.
It really doesn’t matter because eventually the taxpayers will pay to widen that road anyway. If Walmart decides to build elsewhere, we will probably pay for road improvements there too.
The fact is, people aren’t going to NOT buy things just because Walmart isn’t a few blocks away, so instead they drive even further across town to save 20 cents on their deodorant. This means more miles driven on our city streets – not less, which results in more maintenance, and likely quite a bit of wasted fuel.
I’m no fan of Walmart, but the people as a whole seem to be, thus it only makes sense for them to build a third location. I just hope they find something in that same region rather than abandoning their plans because they would bring in a lot of tax revenue, and they woudl employ a lot of people. (We can debate their wages and upward mobility another time, but they do create jobs and that fact cannot be argued).
Plus – when a Walmart goes in, development goes in around it. That area would soon have several smaller strip malls, a gas station, a few fast food places, and the mandatory nail salon. Considering the number of apartments in the area, it could result in a cumulative effect of thousands of miles of driving being saved from people who currently have to drive 10, 15, or 20 blocks for all of those things. Plus *gasp* some people might even walk or ride a bike!!!
If Walmart is built there, it will expedite road expansion, which in turn will shorten the time frame for needed funding. Craig’s argument that it will lessen travel demand only holds true if a third Walmart is never built in Sioux Falls (substitution effect). The fact is, Walmart stores generate more traffic than any grocery store EVER could.
The residents of this neighborhood UNDOUBTEDLY have a right to be concerned. To demonize them for speaking up is wrong.
Personally, I could care less if Walmart is built there or not. It just makes a whole lot more sense to built it at a site that can already accommodate a big-box store — a site that fits with the long-term vision for the City.
Jamison sets the record straight:
http://www.kdlt.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17281&Itemid=57#video
Just what Sioux Falls needs – another Walmart or HyVee. Make it stop! Byerly’s would be awesome! Hell Cub Foods would be awesome! I’d even go for ghetto Rainbow Foods! I’m even down for an Aldi. This town and its lack of grocery options is killing me.
“This town and its lack of grocery options is killing me.”
No kidding? Huh? Walmart and Hyvee literally have a monopoly on it. I think that is why I shop at Slumshine DT.
Again Aldi is coming, but there is a reason we don’t have a lot of options and it is because everyone who tried has failed. Cub foods and Randalls couldn’t make it here because people didn’t shop with them. Sunshine was struggling and their East 10th store was barely hanging on ever since the East side Walmart opened.
People whine about not having options, yet they drive right over to Walmart the first chance they get. Price drives traffic 99 times out of 100, and until something comes in that can compete on price with Hy-Vee and Wallyworld, people will continue to drive out of their way to get there.
Pretty much.