Proposed bill could affect Chico Wal-Marts

A bill proposed in the state Senate last year and passed this week by the Assembly would most likely affect the proposed building of a new Wal-Mart in north Chico and possibly the expansion of the existing Wal-Mart into a so-called “supercenter.”

Senate Bill 1056, by Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-Sun Valley, would, if passed by the Senate and signed by the governor, require local governments to prepare an economic-impact report before approving the construction of a “superstore retailer.”

Such a store is defined as larger than 130,000 square feet, which would include the proposed expansion of the Forest Avenue Wal-Mart. However, Chico Planning Director Kim Seidler said he is not sure if that expansion is beyond the time frame of this law.

“It may be too far into the process,” Seidler said of the controversial expansion, which will bring to Chico one of the first of 40 supercenters planned for California. The plans to super-size the local Wal-Mart were delayed in part by a lawsuit filed last year by Modesto attorney Brett Jolley, who argued that state law says a local governing body—the Planning Commission—must take into consideration the economic as well as environmental impacts of a superstore before it is approved. He argued only a complete environmental-impact review would do so.

The Planning Commission eventually called on Wal-Mart to conduct the complete EIR, which it agreed to do. There is some doubt as to whether economic concerns, besides resultant physical blight, are within the scope of a traditional EIR. That is where Alarcon’s bill comes in.

The applicant would have to pay for the report, which like an EIR would be conducted by a third party qualified by education and experience. The report would include how much of a share of local retail sales the new store would capture; how its construction would affect the supply and demand for local retail space; how it would affect wages and benefits and employment demands; and projections of the cost of public services, the effect of retail operations in the same market area and how it would play into the city’s general plan.

The proposed new Wal-Mart, coming soon to north Chico on a piece of land currently occupied by Sunset Hills Golf Course, may be affected by the new law should it become reality.

“Oh yes, it’s a real live project,” Seidler said of the newest superstore. “Actually, I don’t know for sure other than it is a large retail outlet. The assumption is that it’s a Wal-Mart store. And it is big—I’m pretty sure over 130,000 square feet.”

Local Assemblymen Rick Keene, R-Chico, and Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, voted against Alarcon’s bill, which now heads to the Senate.