PARD Mulls Decision to
Appeal Wal-Mart Ruling

The executive board of the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development met last night to begin discussing whether to appeal the District Court’s ruling in favor of Wal-Mart. “We owe it to the thousands of folks in Pullman who oppose a Bishop Blvd Supercenter to make a careful, deliberate decision,” noted T.V. Reed, PARD’s Chair. Based on information from their lawyers, they discussed the pros and cons of their next option, a state supreme court appeal. Board members will next seek feedback from the wider membership before making a final decision. Reed added that “while we have a full 30 days to appeal, we expect to decide more quickly than that. “

While PARD is disappointed that the Third District Court upheld the lower court’s ruling by deeming the Hearing Examiner’s judgment “adequate,” members expressed pride that the hundreds of grassroots organizations like PARD that have challenged Wal-Mart’s business and employment practices nationwide have compelled the retail giant to begin reforming its ways. As PARD member Chris Lupke noted, “These reforms – such as their new health care policy for employees, their efforts to stock more environmentally sound products and the plans to build more “green” buildings – are the product not of those cheering unreflectively for Wal-Mart but of groups like PARD who have relentlessly challenged the questionable business practices of Wal-Mart.”

“It is also clear,” Reed noted, “that while our court challenge forced Wal-Mart to make some, inadequate mitigations to the Bishop Blvd. plan, the issues we raised are more pertinent now than ever.” PARD member Deidre Rogers added that the City of Pullman recently spent $45,000 on a traffic impact study for Bishop Blvd that was “just what PARD asked for 3 years ago. That study validated all of PARD’s concerns, and had it been completed in time for our case, we would have seen a different court outcome.” The traffic study concludes that the traffic situation on Bishop Blvd will soon lead to multiple “failed” intersections that will cost between 2 and 9 million dollars to rectify.

The groups treasurer, Alex Hammond, reminded a reporter at the meeting that, “Since PARD never sought an injunction against Wal-Mart, the company has been free to build on top of that hill for several years. We remain hopeful that regardless of the court case they will choose not to build on such an expensive, difficult site that would create serious traffic hazards.”

About PARD

As our mission statement makes clear, the Pullman Alliance for Responsible Development seeks to increase the economic and cultural vitality of the city and the region through thoughtful, socially and environmentally responsible growth.

We have carefully examined and offered a detailed study of the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter.

We are currently examining several other major projects in the area, including the proposed WSU golf course, the Whitman County Commissioners' plans to develop business along the Pullman-Moscow highway corridor, and the long-envisioned south bypass of downtown Pullman.

We applaud the recent decision of the Pullman City Council to resist County Commission pressure to extend services to the Moscow-Pullman highway. We believe a far more prudent and economically lucrative option for Pullman would be to push development of any county properties south of town on the route to Lewiston/Clarkston.

We also want to applaud local developer Duane Brelsford, Jr. whom we see as a model of responsible development. Brelsford is providing both housing and businesses that are needed locally, while maintaining the character of Pullman. He is also finding ways to link the campus and the downtown to the benefit of both.

Pullman is growing rapidly and many new housing and business opportunities will be coming our way. With regard to apartment and home building, we believe most of the recent developments are sound and useful additions to the city. However, we have one serious concern with local housing and apartment development that we hope the City Council will address. Many cities have insisted that devlopers put aside a certain percentage of new developments for low income residents. Given the increasing cost of housing in Pullman, PARD believes such a requirement makes sense to support low income members of our community.