City Reconsiders, Kills Proposed Wal-Mart Plan

THORNTON, CO-The city council here did an about-face and heeded the outcry of vocal citizens by voting 7-2 to not rezone 50 acres at Interstate 25 and 136th Avenue for a 24-hour Wal-Mart Supercenter. About three months earlier, the council had voted 6-3 for approval.

Keith Morris, Wal-Mart spokesman, tells GlobeSt.com he thinks the latest vote, which both disappointed and surprised him, was neither a rejection of that site or part of the increasing move by citizens to oppose Wal-Marts. “I think it is a result of the heavy handed tactics of a group of residents,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “They were threatening the mayor and council with putting a vote on the ballot and threatening them with recalls.”

Morris adds Wal-Mart still wants another store on the fast-growing northern corridor, although he says Thornton–10 miles north of Denver–may not get it. The store was projected to create 450 jobs and at least $1.5 million annually in tax revenues.