Wal-Mart wants in after big box ban lifted

If Osama Bin Laden proposed a building with solar panels on the roof, would city council allow it?
- Former COPE Coun. Tim Louis

Vancouver looks to be headed for another big-box showdown this summer.

A moratorium on big box applications in Vancouver is set to be lifted any day now, and Wal-Mart Canada says it's still interested in erecting its "eco-friendly" store on Marine Drive - even though the plan was soundly rejected last summer.

"We've said all along that we're committed to the site that we have. We still think it makes sense for a retail development," Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Groh said in an interview yesterday.

A lot has changed in a year. The left-wing council that dominated city hall has been replaced by a slim centre-right majority more open to Wal-Mart's overtures.

But there's still strong opposition to the big box behemoths.

"We knew this was coming. We're starting to get the ball rolling," said Louise Seto, chair of the Building Better Neighbourhoods group that has bitterly lobbied against Wal-Mart.

Council must first decide whether to adjust its industrial zoning policies that currently permit big box applications. The previous council ordered a review of the policy after the Wal-Mart rejection.

Any decision on that would likely head to a public hearing in the early summer; Wal-Mart expects the earliest it can re-apply is in July.

Last year, the NPA's Sam Sullivan and Peter Ladner, along with former Mayor Larry Campbell, were the only ones to vote in favour of the Wal-Mart application, as well as an additional Canadian Tire store along the same stretch.

Tags: vancouver, walmart, big box