Wal-Mart revives fight in Union County
5,000 letters seeking support for development disturb project's foes

SAMANTHA PETERSON
Staff Writer, The Charlotte Observer

MONROE -A Wal-Mart letter sent to some western Union County residents last week has dashed a local group's hope that the company was no longer interested in building a supercenter in their neighborhood.
 

Lisa Murphy, who has led the fight against a proposed supercenter at Tom Short and Rea roads, said she didn't believe people when they told her they'd received a letter from Wal-Mart asking for their support. While Murphy and other residents had still been working against the supercenter behind the scenes, the controversy seemed to have quieted in recent months.
 

"I'm extremely disappointed they're still pursuing this property," said Murphy, whose house in the Somerset neighborhood backs up to the property Wal-Mart wants to build on.
 

She and other opponents in the Somerset and Hunter Oaks subdivisions have met and are still deciding what, if anything, to do in response to the letter.

Murphy said she didn't receive the letter, nor does she know anyone near the site who received it. But residents in other parts of western Union County received copies.
 

The double-sided, one-page brochure features an artist's rendering of the store, along with brief comments about the jobs and taxes the company says a supercenter would provide.

On the other side is a letter from Wal-Mart spokesman Keith Morris outlining steps the company said it would take to be "a good neighbor."
 

The letter also asks residents who support the store to sign an enclosed business reply card and return it to the company. Residents also can indicate whether they'd like to circulate a petition supporting the supercenter.

Morris said the 5,000 letters were sent simply to inform people that Wal-Mart is still interested in that site.

"We decided it would probably be in everyone's best interest to send out some informational pieces about the project," he said.

Residents in the Hunter Oaks and Somerset subdivisions have been fighting Wal-Mart's plans for a supercenter at that corner since November 2001. They organized a group, calling themselves Citizens for Smart Growth, began fund raising, researched land-use ordinances and other laws, and hired a lawyer.

Throughout the fight, they have maintained that a 24-hour supercenter, a mega-Wal-Mart that includes a supermarket, is out of sync with their neighborhoods and would substantially lower property values and increase traffic and crime.

The company sued last year to force the county to hear its application for a major development permit. The county, however, maintains the company needs a more stringent permit. The case hasn't made it to court yet.