Two Main Street Amendments Fail by Narrow Margins

Election Day 2006 proved to be disappointing for two booksellers who were supporting measures to keep big box stores out of their respective communities. In both cases, the votes went in favor of corporate retail by a narrow margin.

In Davis, California, a measure that will allow a Target to open in the community passed by a three percent margin, according to the Sacramento Bee; and in Ravalli County, a proposition to repeal an emergency ordinance that placed a 60,000-square-foot size cap on new retail development also lost by a slim margin.

ABA President Russ Lawrence of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana, told BTW that the Ravalli County size cap proposal, which had the potential to prevent the opening of a Wal-Mart, lost by about "a couple of percentage points."

Though the repeal won, Lawrence and the Bitterroot Good Neighbor Coalition vowed to continue the fight. "This is clearly not the end of anything," Lawrence said, "and we still have cards we can play here." He pointed out that, if the Bitterroot coalition had been successful, it's doubtful that Wal-Mart would have packed it in, either. "The vote changes things a little -- it makes life a little more difficult," he added.

One of the options that the coalition may pursue is a filing to invalidate the ballot results. According to NewWest.Net, Ravalli county voters in four incorporated municipalities were not able to vote on the cap. The proposition was left off their ballots because it relates only to unincorporated areas of Ravalli County. "The law is not clear on that," Lawrence said. "We're considering filing something to invalidate the results.... We kept [the vote] close. We still have options."

In Davis, California, residents voted to pass "Measure K," an amendment to zoning laws that will allow a Target to open in the town's proposed Freeway Mall. The Sacramento Bee reported that Measure K was approved by a margin of three percent.

Prior to Tuesday's vote, the area where the mall is to be located was not zoned for retail and the size cap was limited to 30,000 square feet. The new Target will be 137,000-square-feet.

The Avid Reader's Alzada Knickerbocker and other local business owners, under the banner of Don't Big Box Davis, had fought to keep Target out, contending that the store would destroy the town and pave the way for other corporate retail development.

On the Don't Big Box Davis website, the group thanked its supporters and noted, "The election results show that there was no mandate for bringing a Target store to Davis -- a razor-thin majority of voters chose faceless big-box retail, despite the obvious negative effects it will have on our city.

"Our existing businesses need us now more than ever. Please continue to support those locally owned stores that bravely stepped forward to take a stand against this proposal. Please continue to participate in local issues, because it is only these efforts that will keep Davis from disappearing into homogeny."