AmCan Wal-Mart heads back to Napa court
By KERANA TODOROV
Register Staff Writer
The battle over the Wal-Mart Supercenter in American Canyon returned to a Napa courtroom Thursday.
Representatives of the big box store and the city sought approval to do more work near and around the hulk of a building near Highway 29 — where construction has stopped since an appellate court ruled last year the city violated environmental laws in approving the store.
The attorney for a group opposing the store argued that work on the store should remain at a standstill.
Napa County Superior Court Visiting Judge J. Michael Byrne agreed Thursday that work on Napa Junction Road near the store could proceed. The road improvements will be limited to 700 feet of Napa Junction Road east of Highway 29 and another 220 feet of Napa Junction Road west of Highway 29, according to the court order.
Byrne postponed a decision until Monday on whether PG&E can power the building, saying he needed more time to study the request.
Construction on the Supercenter stopped in November after San Francisco’s First District Court of Appeal ruled that the city of American Canyon had violated California’s environmental laws when it approved the store at Napa Junction. The court overruled Napa County Superior Court Judge Raymond Guadagni’s 2005 decision in favor of Wal-Mart.
On Thursday, Wal-Mart lawyer Arthur Friedman of San Francisco and American Canyon City Attorney Bill Ross argued that electrical power is needed to enable the fire sprinkler system, thus improving public safety.
“It’s a fire hazard,” Ross told the judge.
In court papers, Friedman argued power was also necessary to activate the store’s burglar alarm system.
But Brett Jolley of Stockton, who represents American Canyon Community United For Responsible Growth, one of the two parties who sued Wal-Mart, the city and Napa Junction developer Lake Street Ventures of Menlo Park, argued against allowing electricity to power the building, saying the move was designed to complete the project despite a court order to the contrary.
Byrne said the fire issue concerned him.
“I don’t want a fire down there,” he said, adding he also did not want to see a firefighter injured. “I don’t want to be responsible for that.”
Thursday’s hearing was the first since the court of appeal stopped the project. To resolve the case, the city may be required to generate another environmental impact report on the Wal-Mart project.
The American Canyon City Council in December hired Michael Brandman and Associates for $117,700 to do new traffic and economic impact studies of the Wal-Mart Supercenter project in an effort to obtain the green light to open the anchor store at Napa Junction.
“Depending on the current facts,” Ross said, the case could be decided in a “couple of months.”
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GET ON WITH IT wrote on Feb 23, 2007 8:45 AM:
none wrote on Feb 23, 2007 1:17 PM:
What part do you not understand? wrote on Feb 23, 2007 1:48 PM:
Buzzy wrote on Feb 23, 2007 4:16 PM:
Again wrote on Feb 23, 2007 6:31 PM:
Bad reporting wrote on Feb 23, 2007 8:49 PM:
walmart's not safe now? wrote on Feb 23, 2007 11:35 PM:
Take Responsibility for Your Actions wrote on Feb 24, 2007 8:07 AM: