As I suspected, the SD Supreme Court upheld the circuit court’s decision to allow the zoning for a 4th Walmart in Sioux Falls;
The South Dakota Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s decision, allowing the annexation of land into the city which is now slated for a Walmart store.The appellants are a group of residents near the site calling themselves Save Our Neighborhood. The group has argued that the land annexation was illegal because the city didn’t first get Lincoln County’s approval.
It was a long shot to begin with, but worth it. But this isn’t the end of the fight. Besides the fact that drainage is a serious issue in that neighborhood, as we saw this past week, there was another court filing by the SON group. Shortly after the election, SON filed a suit contesting the misleading ballot language. One of the main complaints was the mention of Walmart in the language. The ballot question was about re-zoning, not about Walmart specifically. The re-zone would allow any kind of large retailer to build there. In fact, as I understand it, Walmart only has a purchase agreement with the Homan family. If Walmart isn’t granted a building permit, they will have no financial obligation to purchase the land.
The city has yet to respond to the ballot language suit, or at least I have not seen anything in the media about it. Since WM won today, I wonder if they will ask the city to issue them a building permit (the only thing WM has left to do). Or will the city respond to the suit first? Of course that would require fairness and common sense from the city attorney’s office.
One can only guess what this Planning Department, Mayor and City Attorney will do, but I can guarantee whatever it is, it won’t be in the best interest of the SON neighborhood or the citizens of Sioux Falls.