[Dryerase] Legal action aginast Wal-Mart

[Shawn G]

Asheville Global Report
www.AGRnews.org

Reprinting permitted for not profit organizations, and the Dry-Erase News 
Wire

Citizens take legal action to stop Wal-Mart development

By Beth Trigg

Asheville, North Carolina, Sept. 17 (AGR)—  On Monday, five community 
organizations and over 100 Asheville residents filed an appeal of the City 
of Asheville’s decision to approve a conditional use permit and a rezoning 
petition for the proposed Riverbend Marketplace development on the Swannanoa 
River at the Sayles Bleachery site.  The complaint alleges that Asheville 
city officials violated the City’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), and 
petitions the court to reverse the actions of City Council, revoke the 
conditional use permit, and nullify the rezoning of the property.
The Oakley Community Association, the Beverly Hills Homeowners Association, 
the Redwood Forest Homeowners Association, the Biltmore Merchants 
Association, Community Supported Development, and individual members of each 
of these groups are the plaintiffs in the appeal.  The action is intended to 
stop Riverbend Development Partners from moving forward with their plans for 
a Wal-Mart Supercenter and other development on the site, and to hold city 
officials accountable to their own development guidelines.  “The city seemed 
to ignore their own rules,” said Ned Guttman, a member of the Redwood Forest 
community group.  “This process was flawed from the start.  The city needs 
to rescind the permit.”
The community groups held a press conference announcing the legal action 
Monday afternoon, and were joined by supporters and neighbors of the Sayles 
site.  According to the complaint, City Council based its findings on 
insufficient evidence, committed “grave procedural errors” and ignored 
evidence showing that the development could not satisfy the requirements for 
a conditional use permit.  Says Sharon Martin of CSD, “The Wal-Mart plan 
will create public safety risks and traffic nightmares, and will damage the 
unique quality of life and community character that we in Asheville enjoy.  
We believe that the city acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner in 
approving this mega-development.  We will continue to fight in court to 
force city officials to follow the rules in our zoning ordinance.”
Taking on city government, the retail giant, and local development moguls in 
court is an expensive endeavor, however. CSD continues in its grassroots 
fundraising to pay for the legal battle, and will be hosting a spaghetti 
dinner on Sept. 29 at 6pm at the Unitarian Church to raise money for legal 
expenses.   Advance tickets are available from Christopher Fielden at 
277-3640.  Small, independent businesses are also pitching in:  Corine 
Kurzmann, owner of Diggin Art, is challenging other local business owners to 
donate a percentage of profits to the fight.  “We’re donating five percent.  
I challenge other businesses to do the same,” Kurzman says.  The grassroots 
organizing effort to challenge Wal-Mart on the Sayles site has spanned 
several years and cost thousands of dollars already.
The City of Asheville has 30 days to respond to the appeal; then the case 
will be heard by a judge in Superior Court.  Wal-Mart Corporation, Horne 
Properties (a national development corporation involved in the project), or 
Riverbend Development Partners could petition during that time to intervene 
in the case on the grounds that they would be affected by the outcome, in 
which case they would also be involved in the court battle.  Betty Lawrence, 
the local attorney who filed the appeal, says she is “very confident,” 
adding, “the record is clear.”
Citizens have spoken out against the development throughout the City’s 
review process, citing concerns about groundwater pollutants, runoff, 
traffic, air and noise pollution, property devaluation, and neighborhood 
destruction, and asserting that the proposal would violate all seven of 
Asheville’s conditional use permit findings. In the end, opponents of the 
development hope to prove that the City’s decision was a “political 
approval,” sidestepping proper procedure, violating the law, and 
disregarding due process rights for Asheville residents.  Ned Guttman 
summarizes: “This lawsuit is about inappropriate development, a flawed 
process, and the integrity of City government.”
More information is available at www.main.nc.us/csd.


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