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James Island citizens’ group protests Wal-Mart proposed expansion
By Kathleen Dayton
Staff Writer
Move over, Wal-Mart; some James Islanders would rather keep their trees than choose from an additional 53,000 square feet of discounted retail items.
That is how a newly formed citizens’ group on the island feels about Wal-Mart’s plans to build a superstore to replace its 123,000-square-foot store built in 1995. The proposed store would be approximately 176,000 square feet and would include a supermarket. And many nearby residents are opposed to cutting down tress, building a larger store on the island and adding to the number of grocery stores in the area.
“If it’s about public need, the public doesn’t need another grocery store. We’d rather preserve wetlands and 30 grand trees,” said Amy Fabri, spokeswoman for a newly formed citizens’ group, Islanders for Responsible Expansion.
The group formed soon after Wal-Mart received permission from the city of Charleston’s Board of Zoning Appeals to cut 30 grand trees on the property. Grand trees are defined as trees that are more than 24 inches in diameter.
“Everything less than 24 inches is also going to get leveled. Those are just the big ones,” Fabri said.
Wal-Mart also will need to build over wetlands on the site. The company cannot cut down any trees until all permits are granted for the project.
Not all of the trees will be cut down, said Tara Stewart, Wal-Marts’ senior public relations manager for South Carolina, and Wal-Mart plans to mitigate the wetlands issue by putting a conservation easement on 11 acres of green space on James Island and deeding it to the city.
“Those trees that are all marked are not necessarily trees that are all coming down,” Stewart said. “Most of them are sweet gum and black gum. One was a live oak.”
The retail giant said that it worked with Charleston planners to classify and categorize the health of each tree under the cutting permit. Stewart said Wal-Mart will plant 250 new trees according to the city’s land-use and urban development plan to mitigate any cutting on the site.
Keeping the old store open while the new store is under construction will keep 170 James Islanders working, she said. The new store will employ up to 400.
“We opted to keep those folks employed to build the new store while keeping the old store open,” Stewart said. “Our goal was to work out the best plan, and we think we’ve done that with the city.”
Islanders for Responsible Expansion has launched a Web site, www.isrex.org, where more than 1,000 people have signed an online petition protesting Wal-Mart’s expansion plan. The group is also circulating paper petitions.
‘Be a good neighbor’
“We’re just asking that they be a good neighbor to us, which is their slogan,” Fabri said. “The plans they have right now are simply to add the grocery store component to their current store, and within that stretch of Folly Road we already have five grocery stores.”
Stewart has met with members of the citizens’ group and the Coastal Conservation League, said Nancy Vinson, a project manager with the league.
“She was very gracious and we appreciated her meeting with us,” Vinson said. “I requested that she meet with several concerned citizens and she did that. Apparently, it didn’t change their minds.”
Islanders for Responsible Expansion held a public forum March 11 on James Island to discuss Wal-Mart’s plans for the new supercenter.
Charleston City Councilman Tim Mallard, who attended the meeting, said he is opposed to the project.
“I think the Wal-Mart they have is fine,” Mallard said. “I ran on a platform of listening to the people, and the people of James Island overwhelmingly are against a Super Wal-Mart.”
Charleston City Councilwoman Kathleen Wilson said she has received 90 phone calls regarding the store, with only five in support of the planned expansion.
“I really do have to side with James Islanders on this one,” Wilson said. “The sentiment on the island is overwhelmingly opposed to a Super Wal-Mart. We have seven grocery stores on the island already and four are within just two miles and the Food Lion is next door.
We’re filling in wetlands and we ought not to be filling in wetlands anywhere unless it’s absolutely critical.”
In addition to its impact on the environment, the new 24-hour store would create more traffic and noise for people living nearby, Fabri said.
“When the Wal-Mart was built in 1995 it was the biggest Wal-Mart in the area,” she said. “Now it’s too small, and the one they want to put in is the size of four football fields. That’s just the store, not the parking lot. That’s enormous.”
From Wal-Mart’s perspective, the new store likely would employ 125 more people than the current store. The superstore would also offer 142,000 different items, compared with about 120,000 items offered at the current store.
Wal-Mart representatives and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will hold a public meeting regarding the planned supercenter. That meeting is not yet scheduled, Stewart said. Wal-Mart has been working with Charleston for about a year and hopes residents will hear facts before deciding against the project.
“Everything will be in a public meeting with public comment and public postings,” Stewart said. “This is going to be a very open and transparent process.”
Develop ‘smartly’
The giant retailer is not the only new development planned for the area. First Baptist Church School plans to move its downtown Charleston campus to a 62-acre tract near Wal-Mart for which it recently paid $2.1 million. The school plans an 110,000-square-foot education building, a gymnasium, athletic fields and parking at Riverland Drive and George Griffith Boulevard.
“You can’t stop progress, you just have to do it smartly,” said Lucrisa Smith, president of Classic Realty Enterprises on James Island. “Wal-Mart, if they don’t get this approval to expand here, they may look elsewhere.”
Phyllis Cooper, who grew up on James Island and works at the James Island Wal-Mart, said she thinks the area is big enough to warrant the superstore.
“Don’t just pick on Wal-Mart,” Cooper said. “First Baptist is going to build here. Why don’t they start griping about that? Traffic will probably not be caused by Wal-Mart becoming a supercenter. Are they going to close Folly Beach?”
Kathleen Dayton is a staff writer for the Business Journal. Email her at kdayton@scbiznews.com.
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