The Yucca Valley Town Council met on Thursday, May 22, 2008 to consider approval of the Wal-Mart Supercenter Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
Approximately 300 people attended the Council meeting, 205 submitted Request to Speak forms, and 42 spoke during the Public Hearing session. The final tally: 123 voted NO (60%) and 82 voted YES (40%).
Many of the YES votes were Wal-Mart employees who vigorously supported Wal-Mart, claiming good wages, benefits and working conditions.
Wal-Mart’s PowerPoint presentation included architectural renditions of the proposed Supercenter building and grounds, commentary on Wal-Mart’s supposed benefits to the community, etc.
The Town Council vote was postponed until June 25 because of two late submissions challenging the assumptions of the EIR. The submissions were from Mathew D. Vespa, Esq. and Jonathan Evans, Esq., of The Center for Biological Diversity and from John McClendon, Esq., of the environmental firm Leibold McClendon & Mann, P.C.
The challenges are comprehensive and authoritative and dismantle some of the underlying assumptions of the Wal-Mart Supercenter EIR.
Note especially Philip King Ph.D. Memo to YV re EIR where Dr. King concludes, “Yucca Valley has a surplus of retail space, and the Supercenter will exacerbate this surplus, leading to significant and substantial urban decay”.
All of the McClendon submissions may be viewed on the MBCA Website here. You are encouraged to read them for yourself.
For more background on the Yucca Valley Wal-Mart Supercenter proposal see previous blog posts on this topic.
For more information on Wal-Mart in general, go to Wal-Mart Watch.
Next Town Council hearing on the proposal: Wednesday, June 25, at 6 p.m. in the Yucca Room of the Community Center. Public is encouraged to attend.
