Stockton Considers Law To Block Big Retail

Feb 26, 2007 4:17 pm US/Pacific
Stockton Considers Law To Block Big Retail




(AP) STOCKTON City councilors plan to take up a proposed ordinance Wednesday that would block new big-box retail stores from opening.

Allowing more large chain retailers to do business could hurt local commerce and transform the downtown shopping district into a row of empty storefronts, said Vice Mayor Leslie Baranco Martin, who proposed the ordinance.

It is similar to one enacted in Turlock last year that banned stores that exceed 100,000 square feet and devote at least 5 percent of space to groceries.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. opposed the Turlock ordinance but the U.S. District Court in Fresno sided with Turlock last year. San Diego and Long Beach have passed similar laws and other communities across the nation have set square-footage caps, changed zoning laws and even seized land by eminent domain to keep large retailers out.

Stockton officials have not decided yet how the ordinance would apply to a Wal-Mart Supercenter already approved by the city planning board and another Wal-Mart store not yet approved, said Ren Nosky, city attorney.

The full council must approve it before it becomes law.

Roderick Scott, a spokesman for the Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart, said he hopes the city realizes the retailer generates jobs and crucial tax revenue.



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