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Local News
Minocqua board says yes to Wal-Mart SuperCenter
By Dean S. Acheson - Daily News staff
The
Minocqua Town Board voted 3-0 Tuesday at a special meeting to recommend
to the county that Wal-Mart be allowed to build a SuperCenter in
Minocqua.
The Planning and Zoning Committee takes up the
conditional use permit (CUP) request next Wednesday and will forward
its recommendation to the county board for a final decision. The CUP
allows the town and county to attach conditions governing such things
as water run-off, noise and lighting that the company must abide by if
it wants to build. Only three members of the town board were present for the 90-minute Wal-Mart discussion and vote.
Supervisors
Mark Hartzheim and Bryan Jennings were absent for the special meeting.
Both said afterwards they believed they had a potential conflict of
interest: Jennings, because he owns property along Highway 70 West
which would increase in value if a SuperCenter was built; Hartzheim,
because he is employed by a developer who is negotiating with Wal-Mart
on a land deal.
Much
of the discussion at the special meeting had been heard before at the
town's Planning Commission meetings. The board did impose a condition
that the former Wal-Mart store be demolished within six months after
the SuperCenter is built.
Nearly 100 people attended the special
meeting. Those from Minocqua township were allowed to speak to the
SuperCenter issue. Everyone, however, had a chance to mark their
opinion pro or con on a slip of paper. Results were: Minocqua - In
support, 17; opposed, 2; out-of-town residents: In support, 14;
opposed, 16. Town Chairman Joe Handrick, who
said he's no fan of Wal-Mart, could find no solid reasons to reject the
CUP request. Wal-Mart's SuperCenter proposal meets the legal
requirements for a CUP. It also fits the area, which now has a large
grocery store (the Trig's shopping center) in addition to a Wal-Mart
store.
Noting that he's a "free market Republican," Handrick
said the SuperCenter will add another grocery store "but government
doesn't have a (right) to oppose it." More importantly, he said, about three-fourths of the townspeople who responded to a survey he sent out favors a SuperCenter.
"You
pretty much said it," agreed Supervisor John Thompson. Supervisor Dave
Huber said the Planning Commission "covered everything" possible in its
review of the CUP request and made the motion to send it to the county.
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