Hosterman seeks new review of Wal-Mart expansion bid Hosterman seeks new review of Wal-Mart expansion bid (July 30, 2004)

Councilwoman fears other businesses can't compete with discounter
by Jeb Bing

City Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Jennifer Hosterman has filed an appeal of the Planning Commission's vote to allow Wal-Mart to expand its Pleasanton store, arguing that she is concerned by the "Supercenter creep" that the local store is making.

Hosterman, an outspoken critic of both Wal-Mart's labor practices and its Supercenter stores that combine grocery with its discount merchandise sales, said she is worried now that its planned garden center expansion could stifle similar businesses in the community.

"The Pleasanton store is looking to expand its garden section by a considerable percentage over what it currently has," Hosterman said. "My concern is that if this store continues to expand various operations under its rooftop, it precludes other businesses in and around Pleasanton from being able to compete."

"With this request, this again represents that superstore creep that Wal-Mart has become famous for," she added.

City Manager Deborah McKeehan said that there wasn't time to place Hosterman's appeal on next Tuesday's council agenda, so it won't be heard until Sept. 7. The council has canceled its regular meeting scheduled for Aug. 15.

In a 3-2 vote July 14, the Planning Commission voted to allow Wal-Mart to double the size of its outdoor garden center and also to build a 5,700-square-foot storeroom at the rear of its store. Architect Doug Hurley, who had traveled here from Wal-Mart's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., is expected to make the trip again Sept. 7 for the council hearing. Although Wal-Mart already had the right to expand its store by as much as 30,000 square feet as part of its development agreement 10 years ago, it still must receive design approvals for any changes. The square footage of the garden center, which is not part of the 127,000-square-foot existing facility, also must have design approvals before construction permits can be issued.

At the hearing, Planning Commissioner and City Council candidate Matt Sullivan also questioned Wal-Mart's expansion motives. He voted against the request on the grounds that its sales of dairy products and certain groceries violates the development agreement it made with the city in 1994 to only sell general merchandise.

"It's not just this particular store expansion that bothers me," Hosterman said. "It's the history of - the bad history of - Wal-Mart in the last decade that really leads me to more carefully scrutinize every request it makes to expand. This hearing will give everybody an opportunity to hear what their representatives want to do."

Wal-Mart, which reportedly has also been eyeing property on Tassajara Road in Dublin for a larger store, had hoped to receive approvals from Pleasanton for its expansions here to accommodate added Christmas season merchandise and layaways in the proposed storeroom and increased seasonal sales at its garden center.

Hurley and Wal-Mart attorney Jennifer Renk told the Planning Commission that the Pleasanton expansion is the only one the company is planning in this area, and that the company has no plans to convert the store into a Supercenter.

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