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

July 15, 2009

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. Initially, with a local citizens group and the Preservation Trust of Vermont, VNRC put forward what we believed to be a more reasonable, less damaging solution — a smaller, downtown store. But Wal-Mart wouldn’t entertain the idea and pursued its out-of-town big box plan. 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 thing to do.

Whether, where and how to welcome Wal-Mart has been at the center of a vigorous and often contentious debate about how the community should grow for over two decades. The latest round began in 2004 when Wal-Mart applied for local permits to construct a 160,000-square-foot store and culminated in late June before the Vermont Environmental Court. But the debate, as well as VNRC’s participation, dates back to the early 1990’s when the Environmental Board denied Wal-Mart a permit to build a 100,000 sq. ft. store.

The outcome of this story is now in the hands of the court.

Prior to the recent three-day trial in Environmental Court, there was months of research, pre-trial testimony, pretrial discovery and myriad conversations among VNRC, the local citizens group and Wal-Mart. A court decision in the case is expected late this year.

The main issues addressed during the trial included the extent of economic impact to the surrounding downtown areas from building a large “big-box” store in the region, the traffic impacts of the project as well as the potential loss of prime agricultural soils and the impact on nearby working farms should the store and its 700-space parking lot be built. VNRC also argued that Wal-Mart should legally be precluded from moving forward with the project because the project had already been denied. Wal-Mart proposed a smaller Wal-Mart store on the same site back in 1994 but the Vermont Environmental Board said ‘no.’

“A courageous and dogged group of neighbors who want to see downtown St Albans prosper into the future and who don’t want irreplaceable cropland paved have worked with VNRC for years on this,” said Jon Groveman the VNRC attorney who handled the case. “This has truly been a “David v. Goliath” fight.  A testament to VNRC and these amazing citizens that they have persisted in this fight for what we believe is right against the largest corporation in the world in these very challenging economic times.  Now, the arguments have been laid out in court, and we look forward to a good decision.”

During the trial, VNRC and the citizens group ‘Northwest Citizens for Responsible Growth,’ argued that Wal-Mart’s studies of the economic impact were based on inaccurate assumptions and a flawed economic model that failed to consider the sprawl that will be attracted by Wal-Mart.  Amazingly, Wal-Mart’s experts predicted that Wal-Mart would not generate any sprawl development — secondary growth — if the project is allowed to move forward.  VNRC also argued that Wal-Mart should have performed a more meaningful and accurate analysis of traffic impacts, one that would take into account factors such as backups of vehicles at traffic lights. Finally, VNRC argued that the store’s destruction of prime agricultural soils would violate Vermont’s 2006 Growth Center law, which VNRC fought hard for, and the Wal-Mart store would be incompatible with a local working farm – the Hudak Farm –which is located less than ½ mile from the proposed big box store.

The trial focused on Act 250 and local zoning requirements, but VNRC has already seen a victory related to another element of the Wal-Mart proposal.

Like other large developers, Wal-Mart is required to get Agency of Natural Resources stormwater permits outlining how they would deal with erosion during construction and long-term rain and snow runoff from the roof and parking lot should the store get built. VNRC laid out specific demands for stormwater protection to Wal-Mart, and they have met them. The result is an unprecedented agreement that legally protects the water quality in nearby streams, which run into Lake Champlain should the store ever be built.

“The Wal-Mart stormwater settlement is a model,” said Groveman. “It is stringent and protective and VNRC considers this a major success not only in this case but for water quality across Vermont.”

The parties must now brief the legal issues in the case before the Judge can begin to make his decision. Many legal issues must be addressed before a final decision on the St. Albans Wal-Mart project can be rendered.

The importance and relevance of this site fight cannot be underestimated. The power of one company, in this case the world’s largest, to shape and potentially negatively impact a small Vermont community could be severe. Ensuring that any and all development fits into Vermont in a way that complements — not corrodes — a community’s character, local economy and quality of life is essential. The line in the sand VNRC drew years back stands strong. And our commitment remains strong to ensuring that the St. Albans Wal-Mart store serves as an example to other communities about the importance of either doing a project right, or not doing it at all. Stay tuned ….