The anti-Walmart crowd is successfully using the courts to stifle free
enterprise -- ANY free enterprise -- that they think is "unsuitable".
Somehow these self-annointed saviors believe that the unwashed masses
who flock to Walmart every day aren't capable of making these decisions
for themselves, and must be led toward the light. It's sickening.)

That's mighty theatrical talk. What exactly did they sue to prevent?

A local group called "Stop Walmart" constituted itself back in the late
1970s, in an attempt to stop the construction of the original Walmart
store here in Iowa City.

They apparently made life miserable for Walmart (it's before my time),
but, eventually, the store was built. It's been successfully providing
low priced, high quality goods and excellent customer service ever
since. (And shafting their vendors, of which I was one, BTW.)

In 2005, Walmart announced plans to build a new Super Walmart on a site
just to the East of their store, on airport land that was carved out by
the Airport Commission in an attempt to free the airport from the
slavery of begging the city council for money each year.

(Flash back a few years: The infrastructure of the airport was
crumbling, and the city simply wouldn't pay to repave taxiways, etc. --
so the airport commission decided to take matters into their own hands,
and devised a way of making the airport self-sufficient. They carved
out 15 acres on the north side of the airport and designated it a
commercial park, with the idea of selling or leasing the land to
business interests. Walmart was to be the first, anchor tenant.)

Incredibly, the SAME THREE PEOPLE from the late 1970s (a group of
former hippies -- Iowa City is chock full of 'em) reconstituted itself
to stop THIS Walmart store. The city had allowed a zoning variance on
the land, in order to facilitate Walmart's purchase, and the "Stop
Walmart" folks jumped all over this, suing to prove that the variance
was illegally processed by the city.

The suit dragged on for over a year, thanks to our wonderfully inept
judiciary system. Walmart patiently bided its time, and in July they
won the case. The court ruled that the City of Iowa City followed
procedures to the letter, and that nothing untoward had happened during
the issuing of the zoning variance.

"Stop Walmart" had 60 days to appeal the decision. On the 60th day,
they did, throwing the case to the Iowa Supreme Court. Everything was
done to take the maximum amount of time possible, and all involved knew
that any case that goes to the supreme court takes AT LEAST two years
to hear.

The coup de grace was when the city decided (under pressure from "Stop
Walmart") that *they* didn't want to wait two more years to see if this
land would sell. They then decided not to allow another variance that
Walmart was seeking to change the land from a "100 year flood plain" to
something less restrictive, saying that Walmart was being stupid and
obstructionist even ASKING for such a variance.

(Background: The reason Walmart asked for this new variance was because
of another Iowa court ruling against Walmart in -- I think --
Maquoketa, Iowa that related to the Walmart there being built on a 100
year flood plain. Somehow they ended up in dutch because of that flood
plain designation, and they wanted to prevent that from happening here
down the road. It was really a simple wording change, but...)

So, the City refused the variance. Walmart, now facing several years
more of legal costs and battles, walked away from the deal, and is now
looking to buy land *just* outside of the city limits -- exactly like
so many other businesses have done in our area. (Iowa City is famous
throughout Iowa for being completely anti-business development. I can
attest to this from personal experience -- for example, they would not
let us hang a "Grand Opening" banner at the hotel, when we opened in
2002, because of some absurd local ordinance. Funnier still, my barber
was not allowed to hang his restored antique barber pole outside,
because of a local law against "moving signs" that can be a
"distraction" to drivers. His shop is on a cul de sac...)

Bottom line: All "Stop Walmart" had to do was sue, and appeal, work
the phones, and delay, and they were able to defeat the building of a
new store that (a) would have provided jobs for hundreds, (b) would
have meant development of restaurants and retail stores on the out-lots
all around, and (c) would have made our airport financially
self-sufficient.

From a personal standpoint, our plans for developing a restaurant on
land adjacent to the hotel hinged on that Walmart sale going through.
Now, we may never do it. You simply can't imagine the impact that
store would have had on our relatively isolated part of town.

The "Stop Walmart" folks are nothing but selfish, pompous asses, who
have harmed more working Americans than they could EVER have hoped to
help -- but then, that's not what they're *really* about anyway, now is
it?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"