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August 10, 2004
Landmark Superstores Law Gets Initial Council Approval
Ordinance Will Give Communities a Greater  Voice in Decisions Over Wal-Mart, Other Supercenters. Formal Vote Expected Tomorrow on Legislation That Could Become A  National Model.

The  Los Angeles City Council indicated its support today for a  landmark law that will provide communities with greater control over the building of supercenters by Wal-Mart and other retailers.

On a 13-1 vote, the Council approved a committee recommendation to adopt the ordinance. A formal vote on the legislation is expected tomorrow, and will make L.A. the first city in the  country to consider a supercenter's broad economic impacts before approval is granted.

Once enacted, the ordinance is expected to become a model for other cities around the nation concerned about the proliferation  of superstores.

Under  the law, developers of proposed supercenters will be required to prepare an economic impact analysis. The ordinance will cover superstores-big-box stores with a full-service grocery store-in the city's economic assistance areas.

Numerous studies, including one by the City of Los Angeles, have documented the damaging economic impacts of superstores. These include  job loss, replacement of good-paying jobs with poverty-wage jobs, loss of open space, destruction of local businesses, and increased crime and traffic.

Until  now, however, neither city officials nor community members  have had the ability to evaluate the probable impacts of a  proposed superstore before a permit is issued. As a result, there has been no meaningful public debate or control over the building of superstores in Los Angeles.

"This  is a great victory for Los Angeles residents, who will now  have a role in shaping the future of their city and ensuring  that development is creating healthy communities," said Roxana Tynan, director of Accountable Development with the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy. "We cannot leave these decisions to Wal-Mart and other large corporations."

A  broad coalition of community, housing, environmental and labor  groups came together to support the superstores ordinance, including activists from Inglewood.

"This  spring, voters in Inglewood sent a strong message when Wal-Mart tried to build a supercenter without any public review or input," said Rev. Altagracia Perez with the Coalition  for a Better Inglewood, which led the successful campaign  to stop Wal-Mart's Inglewood ballot initiative this spring. "Our message-that residents must have a real voice in decisions that affect our communities-has now been sent by  Los Angeles as well."

Before today's vote, community leaders and residents were joined  at a press conference by Mayor James Hahn and City Councilmembers Eric Garcetti and Ed Reyes, co-sponsors of the ordinance.

"The ordinance's standard for a proposed superstore is simple:  would it be a net gain to the community or not?" said  Hahn.

Garcetti,  chair of the Council's Housing, Community and Economic Development  Committee, said, "Communities deserve a voice. This ordinance will ask the developers of big-box groceries if they are going  to cost our communities jobs."

While  the law will apply to all retailers operating superstores,  special attention has focused on Wal-Mart, which is trying  to build 40 supercenters in California. A new study released  last week by the University of California shows that Wal-Mart is costing California taxpayers nearly a hundred million dollars a year in public assistance to its workers.

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