Wal-Mart expansion clears hurdle.

Byline: Joe Mosley The Register-Guard

Wal-Mart has won the opening round of its fight to expand its west Eugene discount outlet by adding a grocery store, but opponents on Monday vowed to continue hammering away at the giant retail chain and its business practices.

"This potential expansion is going to rob our community of good-paying jobs, and that's just not right," said Hope Marston, of the Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Network. "Hopefully, we'll stop (the expansion). We're going to pursue this in some way."

Wal-Mart's site review application was approved Friday in a 21-page decision by Eugene Planning Director Susan Muir.

The detailed ruling found that the retailer complied with all applicable land use criteria and city standards in its application to expand an existing 148,645-square-foot store on West 11th Avenue by 69,306 square feet. Addition of a full-line grocery store will elevate the store to Wal-Mart's "supercenter" category.

While Muir concluded in her written decision that the chain's plans are allowable under existing city ordinances and state land use law, she attached eight conditions to the approval. Most deal with creating and maintaining a natural buffer beside Willow Creek, while others require the addition of 24 bicycle parking spaces, specify landscaping standards and direct the chain to submit final street-striping plans to the city engineer for approval.

Wal-Mart has faced opposition in numerous Oregon communities to its expansion plans, and the story has been similar in Eugene, where opponents have tried to stymie or delay the West 11th expansion.

Opponents have until Aug. 4 to appeal the decision, which would be handled by a city hearings official. Anticipating continued opposition, the city already has set aside a hearing date of 5 p.m. on Aug. 25, in the Eugene City Council Chambers.

But Marston said opponents have not yet decided whether to appeal the decision or try other means of blocking the project or persuading Wal-Mart to call off its expansion.

"I've just been reading (the city's) decision," she said. "I haven't really absorbed it all to figure out our next steps. There is potential for appealing, and that's definitely something to consider.

"But we think it's highly unfair that there isn't a way for us to make an appeal on the basis of the real problem. The only appeal we can make is on land-use issues."

Wal-Mart's critics oppose the Arkansas-based chain's hard stance against labor unions, its alleged strong-arm tactics with suppliers and its potential to dominate local commerce.

However, city officials have said they must decide the project's fate on the basis of Wal-Mart's compliance with state and local land use laws - not a sense of ethics, aesthetics or social values.

"I do know this is a threat to good jobs, and this is not how we should be developing our community," Marston said.

Wal-Mart has rebuffed such criticism - which has been repeatedly leveled at the company nationwide.

Wal-Mart officials have responded by saying the chain simply practices large-scale capitalism, and that its customers reap the benefits of its cost-cutting practices.

The company has acknowledged paying its hourly employees an average of $9.80 an hour, compared to almost $12 an hour for similarly-positioned employees at unionized competitors. But Wal-Mart says it has a higher percentage of full-time employees, bringing overall average pay up to a more comparable range.

If no appeal of the west Eugene expansion is filed or if Wal-Mart wins at the appeal stage, the retailer will be able to proceed to filing a building permit and then moving on to construction.