Wal-Mart wants to open store in Southfield [Voted Down by Sfld Council]

[Kevgoblue]

The issue was up for a vote last night. Not approving Walmart, but re-zoning the desired parcel for heavy use commercial. Residents turned out in droves. Chambers were full, the outside waiting area was full and people spilled over into the rest of the building, watching via closed circuit.

The council voted the proposal down 5-1, with one member abstaining.

[Zacha341]

Why can't they just put the thing over in that ghost-town known as Northland which has one of the largest parking lots of all the big malls in the tri-county. Duh! If this Walmart goes up on Southfield Rd. I will be making my visits thru there less frequent. I can get to my favorite Burlington and other stores further north along Southfield rd. by cutting over from 12 mile and Coolidge Rd.

Southfield Rd is just going to be more of a zoo! And it's already bad!

[gazhekwe]

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/01/...walmart-store/

Southfield City Council has a good history of listening to neighborhood concerns, and Cranbrook Village is a huge neighborhood.

I so agree, Zacha, why not Northland, it is all set up for crowds of traffic already, and has all the space needed.

Get this: Walmart officials countered by saying they would add turn lanes and install new traffic signal systems at the intersection.

There are already turn lanes at that corner, and the traffic is still a snarl during rush hour. New traffic signal systems, might mean the Orlando type, where each side of all the roads has their own turn, which slows things up even more.

[DetroitPlanner]

Get this: Walmart officials countered by saying they would add turn lanes and install new traffic signal systems at the intersection.

There are already turn lanes at that corner, and the traffic is still a snarl during rush hour. New traffic signal systems, might mean the Orlando type, where each side of all the roads has their own turn, which slows things up even more.

Good luck fitting a dual left in there. I only see ROW being available in their quadrant not the other three. It is hard enough for peds to cross as it is!
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=12+mil...gan+48076&z=19

Will this be a full sized store? Maybe a grocery only store would do well. The site looks smaller than the Home Depot or the Target to the N. Typically Walmart uses huge Meijer sized footprints.

[Bham1982]

Now you're talking. Perfect spot. And it is already all set up for traffic, with no immediately adjacent residential area.

I bet you Southfield would love it if Walmart came to the Northland area.

The issue is whether Walmart wants to be there. The Northland Mall is failing, and surrounding retail is failing. It isn't a desirable place for any type of retail.

And I'm very happy Southfield turned down the Southfield Rd. rezoning. IMO this will be good for maintaining residential property values in that corner of Southfield.

[softailrider]

How are they different than any other big box company, excluding Costco and to a lesser degree Menards? I would say they are a MUCH better company when it comes to treating Employees that what Lambert did/has done to KMart/Sears Employees, shareholders, and communities they were in. What about Meijer, that is a family company who's employees make what the people at Wal-mart make and is run by Billionaires its the same thing.

If Traffic is such a HUGE problem along Southfield why won't the Communities let RCOC widen the road and put the median in like they have proposed for the past 15 years?

All that being said I don't understand why Southfield doesn't toss a bunch of money at Walmart and have them transform Northland into a lifestyle center like in Allen Park. With Target, Walmart and Macy's. and a Strip style lifestyle center you could really clean the area up and make it a regional Shopping destination once again. Use Brownfield money like Allen Park did for Fairlane Green [[the Hill) and recreate that on the Northland Property. It would be a wonderful redevelopment project, and if Northland is already in a TIF all the better.

I love that last paragraph. Seems like a great idea.

[AUSSIE]

The issue was up for a vote last night. Not approving Walmart, but re-zoning the desired parcel for heavy use commercial. Residents turned out in droves. Chambers were full, the outside waiting area was full and people spilled over into the rest of the building, watching via closed circuit.

The council voted the proposal down 5-1, with one member abstaining.

For the record what does the PUBLIC want, a WalMart or not?>?

Cheers

[Vic_doucette]

For the record what does the PUBLIC want, a WalMart or not?>?

Cheers

Kenson Siver is on the Southfield City Council. He has been involved in Southfield city government and the Southfield Public Schools for 40 years; he is as dedicated a public servant as I have ever met.

In the linked article, Siver said that this issue was the most hotly debated issue in 40 years, and that the people who communicated with him [[I was among them) were 10-1 against the development.

http://www.hometownlife.com/article/...yssey=nav|head

Here's a more detailed article.

http://www.candgnews.com/news/counci...t-st-bede-site

[Dexlin]

Yep. Read the article. They wanted to put the ass-end of the store along 12 Mile with the parking lot on the north side of the property. I'd have turned it down just over that, let alone all of the other legitimate reasons. I don't know why these corporations have such a hard time listening.

Southfield can do better than this, and I'm glad they recognized as such. These corporations think they can come into communities treading water and do anything they want because they think communities are that desperate. What a show of contempt for your potential customers.

So, what's WalMart going to do? Are they going to do what Meijer tried to do up in suburban Traverse City where they tried to sue the pants off the little township and then spend money to oust the township board?

[gazhekwe]

My feeling is they will either change their layout and come back, or find another spot. In Southfield? Maybe not, but if they do, come on, Northland is ready already. Trouble with Northland is the punks who hang out there breaking in cars or shaking down people in the parking lot. It happens a time or two a week, less in cold weather. Walmart could offer security cameras as incentive, might cut down that petty junk.

[Danny]

Go for you Southfield! Keep EVIL WAL-MART away from your peaceful city of glass mountians and rolling hills and trees.