Wal-Mart shelves Summerlin proposal for now

Jeffrey Libby

Thursday, Aug. 22, 2002 | 11:25 a.m.

Rather than face outright banishment from the threshold of Summerlin on land untouched by commercial competition for a half-mile in every direction, Wal-Mart opted on Wednesday to withdraw and regroup.

It's Las Vegas after all, said company spokeswoman Amy Hill, and if 1,100 communities across the nation have welcomed Wal-Mart's round-the-clock grocery and retail operations, this 24-hour town ought to eventually bend, too.

"What, 50 people showed up today?" Hill said, of the smaller-than-promised crowd to oppose Wal-Mart at the Las Vegas City Council hearing.

"We certainly heard from a lot of people in the area that wanted it, more than 1,500."

"We're not going away," she said, her comments made by phone from Reno. "That's one thing I'd like to make clear."

When Wal-Mart does come back before the Las Vegas City Council, if it's in less than a year, the company will have to present plans for the corner of Sahara Avenue and Hualapai Way that are significantly different than the 203,000-square-foot operation proposed Wednesday.

Most residents at the hearing said the company shouldn't bother. "They only do things big," said Peccole Ranch resident Judy Nielsen.

Jim Davey, another resident, said, "They have a policy that converts their parking lots into transient living quarters. Do we want pedophiles walking through our neighborhoods?"

At least one Las Vegan spoke in favor of the company, saying that national chains like Wal-Mart and Kmart contribute more money to children's charities than local casinos do.

"I will stand tall, tall, tall to support these types of organizations," said Chris Christoff, a member of the United Veterans of America.

Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald, who represents the area, made her point by reading from Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton's 1992 biography "Made in America: My Story."

"If some community, for whatever reason, doesn't want us in there, we aren't interested in going in and creating a fuss."

But afterward, Boggs McDonald stopped short of suggesting what the quote had: that Wal-Mart should pack its bags.

Instead, she sympathized with the company, saying that the scale of its proposal was simply incompatible with the area.