Wal-Mart Supercenter to open after years of battle
| Tuesday, Oct 27 2009 06:45 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Oct 27 2009 06:45 PM
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Timeline of the Wal-Mart Supercenters
Oct. 3, 2002: Opposition to two Wal-Mart supercenters is launched.
Feb. 12, 2003: The Bakersfield City Council approves the Panama Lane/Highway 99 and Gosford Village projects that contain the two Wal-Marts.
March 12, 2003: Bakersfield Citizens for Local Control files suit against both projects.
Jan. 31, 2004: A Kern County Superior Court judge says the city didn't do enough environmental work on the projects and orders work on the Wal-Marts to stop. Other parts of the projects are allowed to move forward.
March 3, 2004: Bakersfield Citizens appeals, looking to halt the entire projects.
Dec. 13, 2004: The 5th District Court of Appeal sets aside all city approvals of both the Panama/99 and Gosford Village projects.
June 10, 2005: A settlement in the Panama/99 project is approved.
Sept. 16, 2005: A judge rules construction must stop, but existing stores can stay, at the Gosford Village shopping center.
April 6, 2006: The Bakersfield Planning Commission decides future big-box stores must be analyzed for the possibility they'll cause urban decay.
June 7, 2007: The new environmental impact reports for the stores, totaling 30,000 pages, get their first hearing.
Nov. 28, 2007: The Bakersfield City Council approves the environmental impact reports for both stores.
March 28, 2008: The reports are cleared by the judge.
March 2009: Construction resumes on the Panama Lane location.
Oct. 28, 2009: The Panama Lane store is to open.
Source: Californian archives
Images:
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Mario Esparza, assistant manager in charge of the grocery section in the new Wal-Mart Superstore near Panama Lane and Highway 99 keeps in touch with his crew as they make final preparations for the opening of the store Wednesday morning.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian The grocery section will be a huge addition to the new Wal-Mart Superstore opening Wednesday on Panama Lane.
Henry A. Barrios / The Californian Kelly Randolph works in the produce section of the new Wal-Mart Superestore near Panama Lane. The store opens Wednesday.
The new Wal-Mart Supercenter on Panama Lane will open Wednesday after being tied up in lawsuits and environmental studies for six years.
Thus ends one of Bakersfield's longest and most brutal battles over the environmental impact of local development.
Lawsuits stalled the store -- and a second Supercenter now nearing completion on Gosford Road -- after the Bakersfield City Council approved their construction in 2003.
The half-built Panama Lane store lurked, empty and skeletal, just off of Highway 99 for years as lawyers dueled in court over whether opening the two stores would destroy local businesses and leave other buildings cavernous and empty -- a blight on Bakersfield's landscape.
Ultimately the city of Bakersfield was required by the courts to rework its environmental review of both supercenters and bless their construction a second time.
Lee Jamieson, who built the 218,145-square-foot commercial building that Wal-mart will inhabit, cheered the occasion.
"It's a relief. But I'm disenchanted with the judicial system and how things work in this country. I'm glad it's over with," he said.
Wal-Mart will close its existing store at White Lane and move its staff to the Panama Lane location, said Cydnee Cochran from Mitchell Communications Group.
The new store includes a full grocery store, bakery, deli and liquor department and will be open from 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week.
About 360 workers from the White Lane location are moving to the Panama Lane store, said Harry Fenske, store manager at both locations. An additional 455 new jobs were created to fully staff the mega-store.
Fenske has managed Wal-Marts for 13 years at several locations in California but this is his first chance to open a new store.
"I love it. It's been an excellent experience," he said.
Fenske said the company has moved beyond the legal battles that plagued the new location.
"It just became part of the process of opening the store," he said.
Fenske said modifications were made to the store to satisfy environmental concerns.
The Panama Lane store will produce less trash than the White Lane store even though the Panama Lane location is bigger, he said, and efforts were made to reduce energy and water use and recycle as much material used there as possible.
The other planned Wal-Mart on Gosford Road is nearly ready to open. The building's construction is finished, Fenske said. He was hesitant to give an opening date, but he estimated it could be ready by April 2010.
