The Lebanon Planning Board said Tuesday it will not allow Wal-Mart, a national discount superstore chain, to move onto Route 12A in West Lebanon because the store would cost the town $4,000,000 in facility upgrades.
The intended site for the store was at the corner of Interchange Drive and Route 12A, a strip already crowded by fast food restaurants and commercial outlets.
"The public highways providing access to the site do not have adequate capacity for the safety of vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles and the improvements necessary to create adequate capacity ... will require an excessive expenditure of public funds," the denial motion passed by the board stated. The improvements would have cost around $4,000,000, City Planner Ken Niemczyk said.
K and J Associates, the owners of Wal-Mart, now have 30 days to appeal the Board's decision.
"That decision has not been made," said Blair Wood, the local attorney for K and J Associates. "There has been no decision. It's under review and there are a lot of things to consider."
The Board must now review the application filed by Costco to build a similar store across the road. The deadline on the Costco hearing has been extended until May 9 but Niemczyk said he thinks the Board will reach the decision sooner.
The Wal-Mart and Costco decisions will effectively end a year-long debate that has at times incited rancor between the Lebanon City Council and Planning Board.
The Lebanon City Council rejected the Board's initial proposal that the roadway improvements be funded through tax increment financing, a process that would make Costco and K and J Associates pay over an extended period through their taxes.
Some members of the Board said the tax proposal was the only feasible way to fund the improvements.
"I, for one board member, saw a great deal of merit to that plan," Planning Board Vice Chairman Ronald Bailey told the Valley News. "I was personally a little disappointed that it was dropped."
Niemczyk said the tax plan had its drawbacks because it committed the city to paying if the stores fell through.
"If the stores were never built or if the tax dollars weren't there, the bond for the improvements would have to be paid off out of the general public fund," he said.
Planning Board Chairman Norman Dobson said the Board did not consider money in its rejection because financial concerns are not within its jurisdiction.
K and J Associates applied to build a 125,148-square foot retail store more than a year ago. Niemczyk said the Board felt the initial report issued by K and J Associates about the impact its store would have on traffic circulation was inadequate.
When Costco filed its application a month after K and J Associates did, the two stores realized the possible traffic impact might be significant, and they agreed to do a joint traffic study.
The applicants had to insure the increased traffic would not threaten the security of the public.
