Wal-Mart proposes center at Decatur, Charleston

Erin Neff

Monday, June 19, 2000 | 11:37 a.m.

Six months ago the Las Vegas City Council heard three hours of debate about neighborhood preservation before unanimously voting to deny a Costco superstore.

Don't expect the same passionate pleas Wednesday, when developers ask for a Wal-Mart bigger than the Costco, and in fact, larger than the Thomas & Mack Center.

Why?

The Westland Fair shopping center, on the southeast corner of Charleston and Decatur boulevards, needs new life. And more residents support the massive 564,476-square-foot commercial center than oppose it.

"We certainly need a dynamic business in there," said Juanita Clark, president of the Charleston Neighborhood Preservation Group. "We've been waiting for something and we're pleased and pleasantly surprised it's not a casino."

In January City Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald narrowly lost a bitter debate to continue studying traffic mitigation options related to a planned 152,000-square-foot Costco on Charleston Boulevard and Fort Apache Road.

Councilman Michael McDonald said the Costco would "kill a neighborhood" and convinced board members Gary Reese, Larry Brown and Lawrence Weekly to vote against the councilwoman's motion. After she lost the initial vote, the council voted unanimously to reject the store outright.

Boggs McDonald said she sees similar issues with Wednesday's Wal-Mart vote. The Wal-Mart alone would have 230,000 square feet and would be across the street from several apartment and condo developments.

"Any time you have a regional retailer you always have to look at traffic implications and residential adjacency issues," Boggs McDonald said. "Will we have enough parking for this square footage?"

Residential protection was also the name given an ordinance the Clark County Commission passed June 7 requiring 500-foot separation between single-family homes and big-box stores more than 115,000 square feet.

The ordinance was passed after commissioners ditched a controversial law that restricted Wal-Mart and other mixed-use retail stores and led to union protests and political attacks.

The city doesn't have a similar ordinance, although the council rejected the Costco store largely because of its impact on neighboring middle-class homes. Peccole Nevada Corp. has since sued the city in hopes of reversing the decision.

Boggs McDonald said she would reserve comments on how she plans to vote on the Wal-Mart proposal until after the site plan is presented to the council during a 4 p.m. hearing Wednesday at City Hall.

But many note the bitter blood between the two unrelated McDonalds since the Costco vote denied a supercenter in the councilwoman's ward. Sources say the two never speak and suspect Boggs McDonald may try to fight the Wal-Mart as payback because the planned store is in Michael McDonald's ward.

When asked if she thought Michael McDonald would take a similar neighborhood protection stance with this proposal, Boggs McDonald said: "He would have to speak to that."

Michael McDonald did not return calls.

The proposal, by LVS Group on behalf of Weingarten Realty Investors, asks the council to approve the 564,476-square-foot commercial center and to allow a special use permit for a minor auto repair service at the proposed Wal-Mart.

The Planning Commission voted 6-0 in favor of both requests. Supporters of the proposal, numbering 38, said it would bring needed services to the area and help the now nearly empty shopping center thrive.

About 24 people protested the proposal, claiming it will have serious traffic implications on already crowded Charleston Boulevard.

City staff is recommending the council approve the center with 25 conditions related to delivery truck usage of neighboring streets, parking and landscaping.