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News :: Urban Development |
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New Walmart To Spark Sprawl On Urbana's East Side |
Current rating: 0 |
by ML
(No verified email address) |
31 Dec 2003
Modified: 08:29:52 PM |
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According to a report in today's (31 Dec. 2003) Champaign News-Gazette, Walmart is confirmed it will be building new store in Urbana in a cornfield at the city limits. |
The News-Gazette confirmed "one of those worst-kept secrets" in Champaign County by frontpaging a story today (31 Dec. 2003) that says that mega-corp and immigration-law-criminally-involved Walmart will construct its third store in the metropolitan area in the cornfields at Urbana's rural eastern edge. Bypassing Urbana's blighted, but high traffic count, Sunnycrest shopping area on South Philo Road, a development plat has been submitted to city officials detailing SpraWlmart's 24-acre store plan. SpraWlmart's new store will be part of a larger, 74-acre scheme to pave rural areas, instead of recycling neighborhoods and prior city infrastructure improvements by redeveloping Sunnycrest.
The News-Gazette story by Mike Monson read as little more than corporate puffery, with no apparent attempt to contact anyone in Urbana who might be critical of the plan. This is rather ironic in light of the News-Gazette's constant, years-long editorial chant about Urbana being "anti-business." Either they no longer believe their own stubbornly ignorant assertions (perhaps meaning N-G readers will no longer have to listen to such whining from the west side of Wright St.) or they are simply hoping that no one recognizes their slanted reporting and calls them on it.
It is unclear how much support SpraWlmart has in Urbana. Some city officials boost it as a way to replace lost sales tax revenue, but it is uncertain if the mega-center will actually add enough revenue to makes up for its increased drain on tax-payer resources. Some city council members have noted they won't oppose SpraWlmart's coming to town, but also insist that the Arkansas-based, union-busting mega-corp will have to pay its own way.
And it will cost. SpraWlmart is known for taking a tough stance on shoplifters, which has resulted in large increases in calls for assistance to the Champaign County Sheriff's office since the Savoy SpraWlmart opened. Thus, increased calls can be expected for the Urbana Police if an Urbana SpraWlmart opens. The same can be said for fire calls. The closest fire station will be the one in the City Building, about three-and-a-half miles from the proposed SpraWlmart. A shift in fire calls to the mega-store may mean that citizens near Urbana's downtown may sometimes see the excellent response time currently provided by UFD decline, if equipment happens to be busy on the far east side of town.
Fronting on the proposed SpraWlmart site is Illinois Route 130, a two-lane highway, as are all other roads nearby. There is one traffic signal on 130, serving the new post office (its location still a sore point with the high percentage of community residents that don't have access to a car to access the PO) across from the site. It is likely that the road will have to be rebuilt to four lanes and another signalled access point to this development will also be required. At the intersection of East Washington and 130, yet another signal will be needed for safety reasons. And I hardly need to mention how badly East Washington beyond Dodson Drive needs to be improved, even for the traffic it already bears.
Improvement in roadway infrastructure is a cost that SpraWlmart should bear, given that it is already substantially available at the alternative Sunnycrest site. While a few road improvements have been made near the proposed site in the urban edge environment in the approximately twenty years since the Illinois130 bypass project was completed on Urbana's east side, the increased traffic from SpraWlmart will probably spark additional demands on tax-payer resources in future years, unless SpraWlmart commits to paying its own way.
Another question is mass transit for the many local residents who rely on public transportation. Extending a bus route to the new SpraWlmart will add expenses and new equipment needs for the CU Mass Transit District. However, one potential plus to the site is the fact that it lies along the old Conrail right-of-way that goes by MTD headquarters, lining up with the proposed light-rail/fixed-guideway project. Unfortunately, this worthy solution is years away, at best, so a bus route extension will be required for the time being. Or will this be like many such new developments, purposely designed as one that is entirely lacking in public transit so that SpraWlmart hopes that it is inconvenient to what it sees as the “wrong element” to get to.
Even assuming that SpraWlmart doesn't get any direct handouts along the way, it is still unclear if SpraWlmart will actually contribute to any net increase in the local economy. SpraWlmart is famous for driving local business out of business and then offering even lower-paying jobs to those whose jobs it displaces.
Beyond that, the low wage, non-union jobs at SpraWlmart mean that employees typically don't earn enough to invest in housing. The low wages paid often attract younger workers, who typically result in increased demands on local public services, including on the public schools, even while they make relatively limited contributions to the tax base. This is already a problem for Urbana, with the mostly uncompensated impact of the University of Illinois. And it's not that Urbana doesn't welcome young people. Most of us can even remember being that young, but it's a fact that this does increase costs to local taxpayers.
A cost that is hard to calculate, but nonetheless real, is the project's impact on the environment. Adding such a large amount of paved area will disrupt drainage patterns unless this is specifically addressed in the plan. This rural area could be transformed into another inconvenient urban zone, over-run with pollution-spewing cars and unfriendly to pedestrians and bikes, unless these issues are addressed right up front. The mess that is North Prospect need not be repeated, if SpraWlmart is met with hard questions about what the future holds.
Some people in the area may value the closer shopping the new store will provide, but far more people will probably wish that SpraWlmart had not disrupted their quiet existence on the city's fringes. What is all the more disgusting is that Urbana has other areas in town that could accommodate SpraWlmart, like Sunnycrest, crying out to be reused. Major public investments have just been made in the North US Route 45 corridor, an area which makes more sense for such retail developments as far as easy access, unless SpraWlmart already has big plans afoot for even more roads on Urbana's east side than I've already cited above.
And the value of the farmland removed from production is a loss that will be regretted even more in the future. There seems to be little in the way of planning for public green space (sorry, but Stone Creek and T.K. Wendl's do NOT qualify) in the area, something which requires foresight now or an even more substantial public investment when the need is realized in the future.
It is hoped that the News-Gazette will do a more balanced job in future reporting when looking at the pros and cons of SpraWlmart coming to Urbana.
Those concerned about this proposal should note two upcoming meetings. The first is a review by the Urbana Plan Commission on Thursday, 8 Jan. 2004. Then the SpraWlmart plan will be presented to the City Council on Tuesday, 20 Jan. 2004. While the tax implications and demands for increased public services may appear at first to be beneficial, they also need to be demonstrated as a positive public benefit by hard facts and clear plans going into this whole affair, not just speculated on by over-enthusiastic Chamber of Commerce-types.
And most of all, SpraWlmart should pay its own way, whatever happens. Champaign may be in the habit of giving away tax breaks to any business with its hand out, but such largess has no place in Urbana.
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