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Wal-Mart Dealt Another Blow in Expansion Plans in Bay Area

Wal-Mart dealt another blow to Bay Area expansion; Development company withdraws application to build Wal-Mart big box store in North Concord

Wal-Mart suffered a major setback in its Bay Area expansion plans here Tuesday night when the Winton-Jones Development Company officially withdrew its application to build a Wal-Mart big box discount store in North Concord.

Concord residents applauded the decision to end the long-running Wal-Mart controversy, signaled by a 3-2 Concord City Council vote in March to reject the project's Environmental Impact Report for significant inadequacies in the areas of traffic, public safety, urban decay, water control, energy and parking. Certification of the vote was delayed until Tuesday for procedural reasons.

"While No More on 4 is pleased with the outcome, the fight is still ongoing. Wal-Mart can come back tomorrow and propose another ill-conceived store. I doubt it will be the last we hear of Wal-Mart trying to build a store in North Concord," said Gregg Davidson, chairman of No More on 4, a community group opposing the Wal-Mart project.

No More on 4, which repeatedly noted the various ways in which the current EIR failed to mitigate the impacts of a Wal-Mart big box discount store, believed it clearly made the case that a Wal-Mart would be bad for North Concord.

"The quality of life impacts we feel in North Concord need to be considered first, and these kinds of big box discount stores do not have a track record of serving communities well. We are pleased that the Jones Family had the courage to end this controversy by withdrawing the current Wal-Mart project from consideration," Davidson added.

It's been a rough year for Wal-Mart - only three Wal-Mart Supercenters have been approved in the Bay Area in the last four years. The City of Hercules is using eminent domain to stop Wal-Mart from building there, Oakland, Alameda County, Livermore and Martinez have big box ordinances and Antioch rejected a Wal-Mart expansion earlier this year.