NoDownriverWalMart.org

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From the October 19th Edition of the News Herald:

Grass-roots organization forms to oppose Wal-Mart

By Jason Alley, The News-Herald

LINCOLN PARK — Several people who've spoken out publicly against a proposed Wal-Mart moving into town have banded together to form an organization.

Wake Up Wal-Mart Downriver is "a grass-roots group working to help protect Downriver from the problems associated with Wal-Mart coming into the area," the group said in a press release Tuesday.

Representatives from Wal-Mart are expected to submit official site plans within the next three months detailing the development they're proposing at the corner of Dix-Toledo and Southfield, City Manager Steve Duchane said.

The preliminary plans call for Wal-Mart building a 176,000-square-foot facility inside the Sears Shopping Center.

While Sears will stay put, the other businesses making up the strip mall portion of the facility will be bulldozed to make way for Wal-Mart.

The LaSalle Bank and the Big Boy Restaurant on the outer portion of the lot also will stay put.

The development also will stretch into Allen Park on an adjacent piece of land where a Farmer Jack most recently stood.

Officials from both communities said they will review the site plans once they're submitted and will treat Wal-Mart the same as any other development.

State laws mandate that communities cannot bar businesses from moving into town as long as they're legal entities and comply with all zoning laws.

Wal-Mart has stores Downriver in Taylor and Woodhaven.

Those against Wal-Mart say they have concerns with the corporation's social policies.

"Wal-Mart stores hurt local businesses, attract crime, pay substandard wages and pollute the local environment," the group's Web site says.

For more information on the group, call 1-313-629-1110 or visit its Web site at NoDownriverWalMart.org.