CITY COUNCIL STEPS BACKWARD

Flip Flops on Citys Vision

 

Fairfield, CA Despite numerous objections raised in a special meeting that did not end until after 1:00 a.m., the Fairfield City Council unanimously approved a Wal-Mart Supercenter project in Mission Village. The planned Wal-Mart Supercenter is to build a store with an estimated 187,000 square feet of retail space, and an additional 16,000 square feet for a garden center.

 

The Fairfield City Councils decision came after the citys own appointed Planning Commission rejected the proposal a month earlier. This also came after a decision by City Council in August approving a big box ordinance limiting merchandise sales uses 80,000 square feet in size and larger.

 

In order for Wal-Mart to move forward with its plans, there are about a hundred conditions that have to be met. One is to amend the Citys General Plan.

 

Why did Council unanimously pass an ordinance restricting big boxes in August, and now approving this gigantic project? said Linda Faivre, leader of Fairfield Neighbors Promoting Smart Growth. What happened to the General Plan this Council just drafted only several years ago envisioning to enhance Fairfields quality of life? They did the right thing back then. What has changed? The City Council took a step backward in Fairfields vision.

 

Fairfield Neighbors Promoting Smart Growth was initially formed to promote smart growth initiatives within the City of Fairfield, but has become more active with the Environmental Impact Report of the Wal-Mart proposal.  Fairfield Neighbors believes this issue is not over and will fight on, according to Faivre, We are exploring all our options. Whether its through legal means, a referendum, or recall, this fight is not over!

 

"This was a classic example of zoning for dollars at the expense of environmental quality and adopted planning principles," said Brett Jolley, a Stockton land use attorney representing the group, "In doing so, the Council ignored its planning commission, disregarded its own zoning laws, and failed to cut square corners in the environmental impact analysis."

 

Unfortunately, those perceived tax dollars will likely never come to fruition according to one expert. Philip King, Ph.D., a SFSU economics professor who has evaluated the environmental impacts of several big box stores in California and Washington, told the Council that this project will merely shift tax dollars -- and blight -- from one part of the Fairfield to another with no net gain.

 

In addition to the project's zoning problems and economic impacts, Fairfield Neighbors Promoting Smart Growth took issue with the project's traffic impacts, degradation of air quality, and energy consumption.

 

Fairfield Neighbors Promoting Smart Growth is a community group formed by local residents to promote smart growth principles in the city of Fairfield.

  

 

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Fairfield is at a Crossroads.

Our city spent a great deal of money recently to study and develop a General Plan that offers a guide to more positive growth for Fairfield. 
 
Our new General Plan is one of which we can be proud. 


The Mission Village Shopping Center is an eyesore.  That is why our General Plan came up with a BETTER IDEA for the future of that property. Mission Village Shopping Center is planned for an upscale, mixed-use development to better fit into the community.
 
North Texas Street is beginning to make a comeback with new businesses and forward momentum.  But now, the world's meanest corporation is trying to push around our residents and force us to amend OUR General Plan to fit THEIR needs.


Do we throw away a good plan for our future in exchange for store closures and traffic headaches?
 
Join us today to say:

NO SUPERCENTER ON NORTH TEXAS STREET!