After eight years, two referendum votes, one reported bribery attempt and countless hours of public debate, Belfast may have found consensus on whether to allow a big-box store in city limits.
Or maybe not.
Recently, the Belfast City Council voted unanimously to rezone land off Route 3 for development of a single retail store that would exceed the city’s 75,000 square-foot retail development size cap. To rezone the area, councilors needed to amend the city’s zoning ordinance and comprehensive plan. A final vote on the amendments was scheduled for late September.
Many in Belfast hope for a permanent solution to a debate that threatens to stretch a decade. “This retail thing just sucks the air out of the room,” said Belfast mayor Mike Hurley.
A final vote would pave the way for a large-scale retail store that could provide goods and/or groceries; many feel the store most likely would be a 140,000 to 176,000 square foot Wal-Mart. The zoning specifically forbids other retail development in the area besides the lone retail store. According to city officials, Wal-Mart has not taken an option on the land under consideration.
City councilor Roger Lee said a unanimous council vote was a real turning point in the debate. He added that the three new candidates for the upcoming council race in November all have publicly stated they would not reverse what he characterized as a compromise. Yet some in Belfast are treating the coming November election for city council as another referendum on big-box retail.
Petra Hall, a former organizer for a Belfast smart-growth group, worries the rezoning will lead to a slippery slope; any one-time big-box policy would only be a city council vote away from being expanded to be a larger big-box zone, she said
“The problem will just be beginning,” Hall said. “It’ll be Pandora’s big box.”
Meanwhile, big-box proponent Dana Keene said the November election is the last chance for those who want a Wal-Mart to be heard. Keene fears the rezoning decision might be reversed if the makeup of the council changes.
“If [voters] don’t want to come out and vote for it, let them pay right through the nose,” Keene said.
Already, the coming election has been marred by accusations of attempted bribery. Last month, Ward 3 candidate Richard Rumney, a former police officer, called a press conference to declare he was offered money not to run. The matter is under investigation.
The accusation is just another twist in Belfast’s contentious retail debate. In 1999, Wal-Mart first announced plans to build in Belfast, but Belfast citizens voted for a 75,000 square foot size cap for retail development by a two to one margin in 2001. Wal-Mart dropped its interest in developing in Belfast, but shortly thereafter the largest retail store in Belfast, Ames, went out of business.
Then in 2004, Keene and a family member organized a referendum to allow retail development of up to 200,000 square feet on four lots on his family’s property. Voters narrowly approved by less than 200 votes.
Big-box developers have declined to develop on the property since the measure passed, and a lawsuit is pending on the legality of the referendum, but the outcome made the debate all the more contentious. Some, like Hurley, said it turned into class warfare.
Others, like Hall, dispute the class-warfare characterization, but agree the issue has been divisive, especially when it comes to relationships with Mayor Hurley once he changed his stance from opposing big-boxes to advocating for a one-time store.
“A lot of us used to be in his court,” Hall said. “Some of us no longer talk to him.”
Hurley and others on the council feel bringing in a one-time big-box store is the best compromise that can be reached and a way to end the debate.
“That is the way to move on,” Hurley said.
Others, like Hall, said real consensus on the issue must be reached for the community to move forward. Hall worries the council solution will cut off future options that haven’t yet been explored, like bringing in a smaller-scale chain store or starting a community-run store that would meet Belfast’s needs.