Austin Joins Cities With Big Box Ordinances

In Austin, Texas, opponents of large chain store development earned a hard-fought victory when the city council approved an ordinance aimed at limiting big-box development. However, for one neighborhood group, the new ordinance will have little or no effect on a development featuring a 217,000-square-foot Wal-Mart.

On February 15, Austin's city council unanimously approved by a vote of 6 - 0 an ordinance that subjects to a public hearing and city council review any proposed retail development over 100,000 square feet.

In addition, the ordinance stipulates that all neighborhood associations within a one-mile radius must be notified of a proposed project. Previous zoning regulations only required that those within 300 feet be notified, explained Steve Bercu, the owner of BookPeople and president of the Austin Independent Business Alliances (AIBA), one of the organizations that lobbied for the zoning changes. "The one-mile radius is a huge deal, because neighborhood associations are so active in the city," he said. "A mile is a substantial difference."

The push for the ordinance was initially spearheaded by the nonprofit group Liveable City. Susan Moffat, a Liveable City board member, told BTW that it took about two-and-a-half years and much prodding to get the city council to pass the ordinance.

Austin's previous zoning regulations were outdated and didn't keep pace with the changing nature of retail development, explained Moffat, who noted that a 200,000-square-foot Wal-Mart did not require a public hearing any more than a 1,200-square-foot independent retail store. "We told the city that we had a policy recommendation [to provide for the review of large chain store development] ... thinking the city would adapt it," she said. "That didn't happen. It took two years of lobbying to get this thing through."

Wal-Mart plans to open a 217,000-square-foot supercenter in an abandoned mall in Austin's residential Northcross neighborhood. The city council, which had previously been "inching [the big-box ordinance] through the legislative process," according to Moffat, "started getting thousands of e-mails from their constituents [protesting the proposed Wal-Mart.] Then their ears perked up."

The proposed Wal-Mart also spurred some Northcross residents to create Responsible Growth for Northcross, an organization that hopes to stop Wal-Mart's takeover of the old mall.

"Wal-Mart may be able to proceed because the shopping mall was already there," said Bercu. "Neighbors are uptight about it because of the traffic it would bring." Wal-Mart initially planned for the store to be open 24 hours a day; however, residents' objections may already be making a difference, Bercu reported, noting that the plan now is to close the Wal-Mart between midnight and 5:00 a.m. --David Grogan