The mayor's and ABI's statement doesn't bode well. This is going to rest entirely on the shoulders of the Office of Planning, correct? The city council has no say (there is no zoning to be considered) and the NPU's can be ignored.

C'mon Mr. Mayor, get involved. There's nothing to wait for.

I think you mean their "lack" of any statement/position correct?

good grief. I've lived here for so long. I recall living here when they put in the Freedom Parway and the hippies screamed about that. Then, I've lived here long enough to remember when the EAV had ONE ( count em ONE ) restaurant/bar called the Heaping Bowl and Brew. Now all the people who did not want the EAV to turn into a 'nightlife area' go there to drink and eat. Finally, the Target on Caroline Street. The wailing and gnashing of teeth when they put in those big block stores. Now, they all shop there. I want a WalMart there, and I've lived here since we didnt even have a Kroger: just a poorly Ethiopian-run grocery with bad food. If they had proposed putting a daycare in there, no one would complain about 'traffic'. It's just the idiots that hate WalMart driving this issue. I hope the Mayor stays out of it, they build it like proposed, and aaaaalllllllll the people crying about this will shop there. I;ve seen it all before.

Mister ELF... There are a myriad of reasons to oppose this development that have nothing whatsoever to do with any particular retailer. I actually agree that the shrill anti-Wal-Mart cries are a little hard to stomach but the reality is that many oppose this development because of what it will do to SE ATL in the long run.

Okay, I'll play along. I agree that SOME do indeed have real complaints and issues that need to be resovled. But the vocal majority is upset that an eeeevil WalMart is going in there. Put in a Trader Joes or a Whole Foods, no problem. They have already said this. I live here, have lived here since after the Olympics. I've seen this all before. Saw it clearly when they built the Caroline Street development. Back in the 'day' if I wanted to go to a big block store, hell even a decent grocery, I hate to get on the interstate. Even now, if I wanted to shop at the eeevil Walmart, I have to jump in my planet poisoning car and drive to Gresham Rd. Nobody bitched and whined when they built up the Glenwood development, which REALLY clogged up that area. Nbody cried when they built the EAV up into what it is today. But try and put in a BP where a defunct Jiffy Mart? Aw, hells no! A Walmart? No way.
Here is the real story I would wager. Much of this sound and fury is by people who moved here in the 2000's during the 'boom' and brought with them thier own peculiar dislikes. Now that they are here, they want to keep the neighborhood 'corporate free'. The traffic excuse is just a red herring, IMO. We live in SE ATL, traffic is going to suck regardless. Build up the EAV? NO Problem, we 'welcome' all 'that traffic'. And if a Walmart is capable of bringing in that much traffic, then that means it is capable of bringing in that much new jobs, too. your milage may vary..

just did a little 'digging'. Here is some interesting stuff. The good Meg Modjeski moved into the Glenwood development: it appears she is operating a bed and breakfast there...Also, she serves as Executive Assistant to the President at Central Atlanta Progress, Inc..NIMBY, indeed. I do not recall anyone asking about putting the Glenwood Park development in there when I owned my first house on Berne Street..Oh no, 'that traffic' is 'good traffic'. But mess up the beltline or the BnB? We cannot have that. Follow the $$

I've lived here since 92 - I don't want any big box like: target, lowes, hd, walmart

Do you understand that the plan is to unload semi-trucks and hand cart the items from bill Kennedy way or glenwood - both are two lane roads. so one lane will be blocked while they unload the truck kind of like FedEx and UPS trucks do - but for a far longer time - because they can't get the trucks into the existing property with the current street infrastructure/configuration.

noBigBox, I'm assuming you are being sarcastic in a funny fear factor kind of way, right? I can assure you that any Big-box development proposed will have a loading and unloading dock just like all the other Big-box stores do around this big world of ours. There is such thing as a service entrance only and to boot, have you ever noticed or cared to notice how the Kroger 18-wheels unload at the Caroline Street store?

exactly. Look at all the lies and 'embellishments' coming forth. Cmon, now. Like this very minute there is not a concrete truck, UPS, Fed EX or USPS trucks all up in that b*tch. Meg just doesn't want her backyard more cluttered. Anyone who claims to have lived here since 92, pre Olympics, should see the handwriting on the wall. Bring on the coomerce and shut up the commies!

oops commerce;-)

NPU W Response to BL-12-035

b. Curb cut width (16-34.017.1.a)
NPU-W disagrees that best engineering practices are being used as the creation of a 36
foot wide curb cut will create significant conflicts to pedestrians of all ages, but
particularly the very young and the elderly, to bicyclists, and to anyone with a disability.
NPU-W recommends compliance with the Beltline Overlay zoning which limits two-way
curb cuts to 24 feet. 16-36.017.1(a). NPU-W also suggests that getting a tractor-trailer to
the proposed 36 foot curb cut is problematic in the first instance, rendering the need for
this larger curb cut on Glenwood superfluous. The intersection of Glenwood Ave. and Bill
Kennedy Way has insufficient width to allow turning of a tractor-trailer from Bill Kennedy
(southbound) onto Glenwood Ave. (westbound).

d. Loading Requirements (16-28.015)
NPU-W recommends against the provision of loading and unloading areas on Glenwood
Avenue, which is a public street. Using a hand cart to transport goods to and from
businesses along Glenwood Avenue is not likely to be a practice that delivery truck
drivers will engage in, given the grade separation between the street and the retail
spaces along Glenwood Avenue. Loading and unloading areas should be located on the
site, where delivery drivers are more likely to actually park their trucks. Atlanta Ord.
Section 16-36.016.2.

npu-w can go ahead and cry. Big Box can too. This is all clearly 'NIMBY'. Jobs, people JOBS! I'll sit through the traffic if we can get commerce in there.

So you need a job that pays like $7 an hour for less then 30 hours aweek and pushes the heath insurance costs on to the state. I now understand now why you want this big box.

Also the freedom parkway was about stopping an interstate - and what we have now is a 35mph interstate that curses around a bit - so the long haired frecks lost tht one.

As to glenwood the mindspring guy had neighborhood meetings and asking for input - I didn't attend any of them.

Can we have a few more of your labels of people that don't agree with you - because that'st he best way when facts arnt friendly to your cause.

As you outed meg what do you do for.a living?

I don't know her but would like to know that you are truly disinterred from this o I almost forgot you need the $7 an hour job.

Sorry about the misspellings - typing on an iPhone made with $50 of Foxconn labor.

Very well said Elf.

well, at least we know that NBB is one of those peculiar types that hates business. Interesting the remark about the Foxconn labor: didn't stop you from buying and using that phone now did it? You are a shining example of everything I stated. When I go around posting flyers and organizing protests to protect my BnB, then you have every right to know what I do for a living. Suffice it to say, you would not like it. It concerns a big fat man who outsourced labor costs to the North Pole. I didn't see your name on the list, but there is no listing for No Big Box..I will leave you all with this: if it's 'traffic' that is the issue, then be consitent. Nobody whined when they built up all along Bill Kennedy, now suddenly every one has an 'issue'. That to me is hypocrisy. Im sure it would be better in your world to have the property remain vacant, paying no millage taxes or city taxes, right? Or: if someone proposed a mixed use development there with green space and parks, oh that would be swell: no traffic problem there my friend. But, put in a WalMart? Heaven forbid! You outed yourself.

vacant properties still pay taxes based on value
i don't own a BnB
I'm against putting anybigbox: Lowes, Home Depot, WalMart, Target,SAMs, Cosco

You are correct I didn't whine with the built up on Bill Kennedy Way - but it's starting to get out of control so - it's my right to whine before it gets more out of control - I'm asking for a better plan! But it doesn't really matter if a big box comes to the hood because in 10 years it will close and open up a new location down the road and leave us with a empty crap strip mall. But only after the state and city spend more money then they got out in taxes on road improvements for the additional traffic volume created - leaving us tax payers footing the bill.

Silly ELF your name isn't listed either or maybe I didn't understand your list comment anyways everyone knows that all the toy's are made in china not the north pole so your outsourcing job is in trouble but I hear they are putting up a walmart in vine city as well - it's just a few miles away maybe you could sell our house move there get a job across the street and use the money from your home sale to send your kids to private school that way we wouldn't have to hire state workers to create charter schools for your kids.

adjkp25 4 months ago from Northern California Hub Author

Georgie - I have heard similar stories about rural areas but I have seen them also undercut other companies in these rural communities to force that business to fold. They can afford to be in the red on a store for a while if it means getting the competition to go away. Here in California I know our supermarkets pay better than Walmart, it isn't even close either. I remember seeing a full page ad about 8 years ago when I still lived in Sacramento about Walmart bragging they paid almost twice the federal minimum wage, it was $5.15 at the time. Down the street In-N-Out was hiring people to flip burgers for $9 an hour.

Why Walmart is Bad for America
Economists have taken a look at what the ramifications are to a state with Walmart’s in it and the numbers might surprise you. Since the company doesn’t offer the best compensation structure for wages and benefits some of their employees are actually receiving government assistance for medical care and food. What troubles me with this is that they makesbillions in profit every year, but can’t get their employees decent medical insurance and this is one of my primary beefs with them as a company.
As a consumer I have the choice on where to spend my money for products, just another perk of living in the USA. Since I enjoy these freedom I don’t shop there because I don’t agree with how they do business; my money will not support what they do. I know tons of people that don’t care how that cheap shirt got to the rack, or the great deal on crackers, but I know how the prices got there and who the company exploited to make it happen.

Millions of dollars have gone into building more sustainable intown living with the beltline being central to creating an inner city that is connected and that people will want to invest in. It is one of the reasons I invested in the neighborhood. I'm not against development, but a big box store is the antithesis of all the planning that has gone into this area. If we want a future for Atlanta, then inappropriate zoning will make that more difficult and the people who moved into town to get away from that kind of development will just move back out. Bill Kennedy and Glenwood are both two lane roads, one across from a newly renovated high school. Having semi trailers coming in 24-7 will choke both roads and make the walk/live/work philosophy of the area a nice memory. Along with that will go the desire to live nearby. ELF's rude attacks on Meg, who is passionate about preserving the area, show a lack of civility that comes from anonymity, which to me is like bullying.

It will be a traffic nightmare. The roads just aren't built to support that level of commerce. A grocery store like Kroger or Publix generates less than half the traffic of a Walmart or Target.

It's not about the brand, it's about quality of life, impact to existing business and residents, and not aligning with the Beltline Plan which is everyone is spending tons of time and money on. Let's be smart and develop for the future, not for more short-sighted, road clogging nightmares.

Poor plan as it stands right now!