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Wal-Mart meeting turns into marathon

Fans and foes pack City Hall as Tarpon Springs prepares to vote on a new supercenter.

By NORA KOCH
Published January 19, 2005

TARPON SPRINGS - Wal-Mart supporters and opponents overflowed City Hall Tuesday night, carrying professionally printed "Yes Wal-Mart" fans and hand-lettered "Save the Anclote River" posters.

They walked past a table offering caffeinated drinks and water, courtesy of the City Commission, to brace them against the long night ahead as the board discussed the controversial plan for a Wal-Mart supercenter on U.S. 19 near the Anclote River.

"It will be a long evening tonight for all of us. We do want to hear your opinions. They're important for us to hear," said Mayor Beverley Billiris as she pleaded with the crowd to be respectful.

Eighty-four people filled out cards to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting. At 10:55 p.m., when the City Commission broke to extend the meeting past 11 p.m. - a provision of the city charter - a vote on the Wal-Mart plan appeared to be hours away.

Facing an impassioned crowd, including many people who have fought the project for months, City Attorney John Hubbard said the question the City Commission must answer is an issue of property rights.

"We certainly have no choice in choosing one particular property user over another. We are a government of laws. It's not a popularity contest," said Hubbard, who had advised the commission and the Planning and Zoning Board that they had virtually no legal choice but to approve the project if it fit the land development code.

Wal-Mart's plans call for building a 204,000-plus-square-foot, 24-hour Wal-Mart Supercenter. It would include a drive-through pharmacy, a garden center, a supermarket and a tire and lube station. The project includes two additional parcels to be developed separately. One is anticipated to be for a restaurant, and another could be office space or residential.

To appease city officials, Wal-Mart agreed to build a nature trail and kayak launch for public use. It would deed those facilities, along with 27 acres - mostly wetlands - to the city, and donate $60,000 to improve the trail.

Momentum against the Wal-Mart had been building since November, when the commission was originally scheduled to vote on the project. Opponents banded together, raising nearly $15,000 to help hire a lawyer and fight it. The group formed to oppose the project named itself Friends of the Anclote River. Tuesday night, the five-member commission faced a packed auditorium. The overflow filled the lobby area. Wal-Mart employees showed up from stores in Clearwater, Palm Harbor and New Port Richey. They packed several auditorium rows and kept cool with professionally printed paper fans that said "Wal-Mart Yes."

Nora Koch can be reached at nkoch@sptimes.com or 727 771-4304.

[Last modified January 20, 2005, 00:12:19]