Ordinance proposal baffles Wal-Mart

Adrienne Packer

Tuesday, Aug. 31, 1999 | 11:33 a.m.

A proposed ordinance that could keep a planned Wal-Mart Supercenter from opening in unincorporated Clark County has mystified corporate officials who said they have never encountered such a law.

"We're just kind of scratching our heads," Daphne Davis, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman based in Bentonville, Ark., said Monday. "We're a little confused. I don't know if I understand entirely what's being introduced."

Clark County commissioners might not either. The ordinance was set to be introduced Aug. 18 by Commissioner Erin Kenny, but it was pulled from the agenda and turned over to the district attorney's office for review.

It is expected to be heard during the board's Sept. 8 zoning meeting.

The county's planning division began work on the ordinance when Wal-Mart announced its intention to build a Supercenter -- its typical discount store coupled with a fully stocked supermarket.

The proposed law says "big box" stores that are more than 100,000 square feet and devote more than 2,000 square feet to groceries should be separated into two buildings. Supercenters range from 100,000 square feet to 210,000 square feet.

According to Assistant Planning Director Lesa Coder, county officials are concerned about traffic jams that snarl large parking lots at stores such as Costco Wholesale Inc.

Coder said typically, shopping centers have two anchor stores separated by smaller retail shops. The layout spreads out the traffic.

But the argument made little sense to Wal-Mart officials, who said their Supercenters have two entrances -- one in the grocery area and the other for general merchandise shoppers -- to disperse traffic.

"It doesn't make sense to us," Davis said. "One of the positives about a Supercenter is the one-stop shopping. It causes people to take fewer trips.

"We're subject to traffic studies and analysis. We go to great lengths to show we're complying with local standards."

But traffic problems are not the only reason behind the ordinance. Clark County spokesman Doug Bradford said Kenny, who recommended writing a new ordinance, is also concerned about slot machines in a general merchandise store. Kenny could not be reached comment Monday or today, but Bradford said she is concerned if a general merchandise store is permitted to have slot machines, it might set a precedent for other similar stores such as Target and Kmart.

Separating groceries from general merchandise would prevent slot machines from invading all types of stores.

Davis acknowledged that opening stores in Las Vegas is a different experience for her. She said she has no idea whether Wal-Mart had intended to include slot machines inside the grocery area.

Davis declined to say whether Wal-Mart officials believe their company is specifically being targeted by the county's ordinance.

The Clark County Commission is pro-union and has met with Roberta West, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 711, about the Supercenter.

West said Wal-Mart's grocery store, which would be built at U.S. 95 and Centennial Parkway, would be the first major supermarket in the valley that is not union organized.

"The reasons we're hearing are unusual," she said. "We're still studying it right now."