VNRC Appeals St. Albans Walmart Decision

A month after a Vermont Environmental Court judge ruled in favor of a Wal-Mart proposed for a corn field in St. Albans Town, the Vermont Natural Resources Council filed a motion to alter Judge Thomas Durkin's Jan. 20 ruling, citing several errors in the decision.

Boston Globe: "A Wal-Mart proposed for a cornfield has long divided a small Vermont town"

VNRC v. Wal-Mart: The David and Goliath Story

Over five years ago, VNRC drew a line in the sand when we decided to put our organizational muscle behind halting Wal-Mart’s plans to build an oversized, poorly sited store in a cornfield two miles outside of the city of St. Albans. Going up against the world’s largest retailer is no small feat. Yet, when the health of a great Vermont community’s downtown and its natural resources were at stake — and serving as a bellwether for other communities — VNRC knew it was the right fight to fight. Get an update on this years-long effort.

COMMENTARY: A Wal-Mart Déjà-Vu?

I’ve been in the environmental field for some 35 years now. And sometimes I have to laugh (or cry) when I realize that an issue we’re currently working on is the same or similar to one that we’ve struggled with years earlier.

Citizens Reject Biased Wal-Mart Proceedings

Members of a citizens group that has been working for more than two years to keep Wal-Mart from building a 160,000-square foot store in a farmfield two miles outside St. Albans city today rejected – in writing – the St. Albans Town Development Review Board proceedings in the matter, saying the process has been rife with conflict of interest.

Judge Finds Wal-Mart Hearings Biased

A recent Environmental Court ruling affirmed citizens’ claims that the Town of St. Albans’ hearings on a proposed 160,000-square-foot Wal-Mart were biased and contaminated by conflict of interest. Members of Northwest Citizens for Responsible Growth filed a motion objecting to the fact that one member of the St. Albans Town Development Review Board (DRB) wore a hat to a hearing that included the inscription “St. Albans Needs Wal-Mart. NWCRG members also raised objections to the fact that another DRB member signed a pro-Wal-Mart petition.

Mercantiles: A Promising Alternative to Big Boxes

Community-owned retail stores, like this 'mercantile' in Powell, Wyoming, are a promising solution communities are embracing to provide consumers access to quality, affordable products without sacrificing their local economy or character.

Higher Standards for Big Box Campaign

In the summer of 2005, VNRC joined forces with the Vermont Livable Wage Campaign and the Vermont Workers’ Center in a partnership aimed at holding Wal-Mart and other big boxes accountable to the people and places where they locate. The “Higher Standards for Big Box Campaign” is a focused effort to merge the social justice, labor and environmental interests of each organization.

Wal-Mart Update January 2005

St. Albans Citizens Fight Back

Wal-Mart is knocking on the door in St. Albans again. This time Wal-Mart plans to build a massive super-center -- a project that would be completely out of scale with the size and character of the St. Albans community. But as they did a decade earlier, local citizens and businesses are concerned about the impacts on the local economy and the environment and are gearing up to push back.