Wal-Mart Land Use Hypothetical

There is currently a Wal-Mart within the Hartford city limits.  The store is approximately 140,000 square feet.  Wal-Mart has decided to open a superstore of over 200,000 square feet in Bishop’s Corner.  Through an anonymous holding company, Wal-Mart has purchased a site on North Main Street where Wild Oats, an upscale natural foods grocery, was previously located.  Wild Oats has gone out of business.  The site has several businesses that are still successful, including a Starbucks, a kosher supermarket, bagel store, medical supply store, a pharmacy and a bank.  The leases for these businesses are terminable at will.  Wal-Mart has applied to the West Hartford Planning and Zoning Commission for a permit to demolish the existing structures and build its superstore. 

You will be asked to represent one of the following groups or entities in class.  What might each group fear from Wal-Mart?  What might the group/entity offer Wal-Mart?  What does Wal-Mart have to offer each of these groups?

1.         City of Hartford

2.         Small businesses and nearby homeowners in Bishops corner opposed to Wal-Mart 

3.         Residents of West Hartford who oppose Wal-Mart but who are not personally affected by it

4.         Residents of Hartford who ideologically oppose Wal-Mart and do not want their tax dollars to support the company

5.         Coalition of residents of Asylum Hill in Hartford, West Hartford and Bloomfield who want Wal-Mart in Bishops Corner

6.         Group made up of unions, national and international activists who themselves have no connection to Hartford or West Hartford, but who have members that live in the area

7.         Wal-Mart

Supplement to Wal-Mart Land Use Hypothetical: West Hartford Zoning Ordinances

Assume that order for Wal-Mart to build a 200,000 square foot building, it would need to obtain a special use permit pursuant to the Town of West Hartford’s zoning ordinance, § 177-42(A)(5)(a).1  The relevant part of that section provides as follows:

(a) The Planning Commission shall make a finding that each of the following standards is met and, where necessary, shall attach specific conditions to its approval of the special use permit if, in its opinion, such conditions are essential to making the finding that:

[1]  The location and size of the use, the nature and intensity of the operations connected with it, the size of the lot in relation to it and the location of the lot with respect to streets giving access to it are such that it will be in harmony with the appropriate and orderly development of the district in which it is located.

[2]  The kind, location and height of all structures and the nature and extent of the landscaping on the lot are such that the use will not hinder or discourage the appropriate development and use of adjacent properties.

[3]  The parking and loading facilities are adequate and properly located for the proposed use, and the entrance and exit driveways shall be laid out so as to achieve maximum safety.

Assume West Hartford is considering legislation that would limit the square footage in the Special Development District in which Wal-Mart would like to locate its store to 100,000 square feet.  There is currently no square footage limitation for this zone.  A square footage limitation would require Wal-Mart to obtain a zone text amendment to raise the maximum square footage on its parcel in order to build a 200,000 square foot superstore.  Whether to grant a zone text amendment is a purely discretionary act on the part of the Planning Commission.  What position would each of the seven groups in the hypothetical take with regard to this limitation?