Littleton – Wal-Mart opponents vow the Littleton City Council’s 4-3 rezoning vote to allow a Supercenter next to a city park won’t stand.
Littleton Against Wal-Mart members said they will push for a ballot measure to undo the move, file a lawsuit or seek petitions to recall the mayor and council members who supported the retail giant.
“They’re going against the will of the people. … If they don’t represent us, then maybe we need a new City Council in here,” said Wal-Mart opponent Jeff Kimes.
Mayor Jim Taylor and council members Pat Cronenberger, Amy Conklin and John Ostermiller voted for the rezoning early Wednesday morning, after an 8 1/2-hour public hearing attended by more than 400 people.
“We make the best decisions we can, but not everybody is going to support that,” Taylor said. “You can’t stop people from doing whatever they feel is right, but I’m comfortable with the decision I’ve made.”
Before Tuesday night’s meeting, the Littleton city planning department had received 1,314 public comments in favor of Wal-Mart and 151 against it.
The Wal-Mart site is in a heavily commercial area along South Santa Fe Drive and is home to a large commercial nursery.
Opponents note that the Wal-Mart would be near South Platte Park, which they believe will hurt water quality and other wildlife habitat. The city has pledged a 10-acre buffer between the store and the park.
In Westminster in 2005, Wal-Mart opponents got the issue on the ballot after the City Council approved zoning for the store. Voters later sided with the council in favor of the store.
Wal-Mart poured $150,000 into the Westminster election, while opponents spent $30,000, most of it from the United Food and Commercial Workers union.
Wal-Mart has won 12 of 16 such local ballot fights nationwide since 1993, including six of seven in 2005.
“This is the kind of thing we run into all the time,” said Gray McGinnis, the Denver-based government relations coordinator for Wal-Mart in Colorado, Montana and Wyoming. “We run into a small, well- intentioned but very loud opposition group that does a good job of pushing its agenda but probably doesn’t represent the majority of the community.”
Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com.
