Wal-Mart could revive lawsuit

Highberger says he would reconsider vote if design changes

Now the waiting begins – again.

Questions remained Wednesday whether Wal-Mart and its developers will restart lawsuits alleging the city has illegally prohibited the world’s largest retailer from building at the northwest corner of Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive.

A deeply split City Commission on Tuesday evening denied the retailer’s plans for the third time in three years. But on Wednesday, one of the trio of commissioners who rejected the plan said he would consider another proposal from the retailer if the design for the proposed development were changed.

“What really bothered me is that instead of coming to us with their very best proposal, they came to us with something less than that, and then tried to tweak it just enough to get a majority vote,” said City Commissioner Boog Highberger, who joined Mike Rundle and David Schauner in denying the plan.

The community should know by Friday whether the project will remain in the hands of the City Commission or be turned back over to the courts to decide.

Douglas County District Court Judge Michael Malone has scheduled a 10 a.m. hearing Friday for an update on whether Wal-Mart and the developers want to proceed with the lawsuits.

Bill Newsome, who with Lawrence developer Doug Compton leads the group that owns the property, declined Wednesday to discuss any legal strategy, but he promised the issue wasn’t going to disappear.

“What hasn’t changed is that we’re going to vigorously defend our property rights,” Newsome said.

The issue could stop short of the courts if Wal-Mart and the developers allow it. The city left the door open for Wal-Mart to submit another plan by tabling two rezoning requests that were also part of the proposal instead of denying them.

Design concerns

Highberger is viewed by many as the most likely swing vote on the issue. Unlike Rundle and Schauner, who listed multiple reasons for denying the plan, Highberger said the design was his main concern.

He said he would like to see several changes, including:

¢ A smaller parking lot. The plan proposes 697 parking spaces. City codes say only 581 are needed. Highberger also said he would like the development to make better use of permeable pavement to allow rainwater to soak into the ground instead of flowing into storm sewers.

¢ Store placement closer to Sixth Street. The store is proposed to be set back several hundred feet from Sixth Street, with a parking lot in front of it. Highberger said he thinks it should be the other way around. He said putting a building closer to the street has been shown to help give an area a “better sense of place.” Buildings near the street also encourage motorists to drive slower, he said.

¢ Upgrades to the store’s aesthetics. Highberger said he had seen Wal-Mart come up with more innovative designs for several of its stores in other communities. The agreement the city reached with Wal-Mart in April said the project would be designed “in keeping with the highest levels of aesthetics and designs by Wal-Mart in other locations.” Highberger said he would like to see what the building would look like if it were designed as a two-story structure, which Wal-Mart has done in some communities.

Taking a gamble

If the city were to lose the lawsuits, the court could allow Wal-Mart to build a store significantly larger than recently proposed. One lawsuit asks for permission to build a 132,100-square-foot store. The plan rejected Tuesday would have allowed a 99,985-square-foot store. By comparison, the Wal-Mart at 3300 Iowa is 207,105 square feet, after a recent 90,000-square-foot expansion.

Neighborhood leaders who have opposed the store because of traffic concerns said Wednesday that the city was taking an appropriate gamble.

“Taking a chance on doing the right thing with that corner is better than just automatically being stuck with something that is completely wrong,” said Gwen Klingenberg, a west Lawrence resident who has helped lead opposition to the store.

The City Commission’s decision, though, drew criticism from some who have been planning on opening businesses in Lawrence.

John Geiger, an Overland Park entrepreneur, said Wednesday he was close to finalizing a deal to assume the lease for the vacant Hereford House restaurant just south of the proposed Wal-Mart site. But after rejection of the Wal-Mart proposal, Geiger said he’s put all plans on hold.

“We’re not going to do it because Lawrence is so anti-business,” said Geiger, who was planning a family-style comfort food restaurant in the location. “I can’t imagine what some of the people over there are thinking. Why wouldn’t Lawrence want a broader tax base?”