Wal-Mart’s impact attacked
Hartford group battles store on environmental grounds

By PHILLIP HERMANN - GM Today Staff 

August 2, 2006

The HCRG is being helped in its effort by Madison-based Midwest Environmental Advocates, a pro-bono service legal firm.

In an 11-page letter to Mayor Scott Henke, City Planner Justin Drew and two HCRG members, Ray VonGunten and Marilyn Raschka, the legal firm spelled out its challenges to the Wal-Mart proposal. The concerns centered on the potentially devastating impact the project would have on traffic and the Rubicon River and its watershed.

The new store has already received approval of its conceptual site plan, developer’s agreement and the annexation of land in the town of Hartford needed for the project. Still to come are the approval of a final site plan and its related Certified Survey Map.

The city’s Planning Commission would have the final say on the site plan, but will only make a recommendation either for or against the CSM, which gets final approval from the Hartford Common Council.

In the letter to the city and HCRG, Midwest Environmental Advocates states "... the Hartford Plan Commission has a legal obligation to deny proposals that do not ‘promote the comfort, health, safety, morals, prosperity, and general welfare of the residents of the city of Hartford ... ." Further, the commission must deny business developments "... that are not compatible with the residential character of the city."

In making its case for denial, MEA states the city should require a more comprehensive traffic impact study that extends beyond the adjoining roads and intersections of the Wal-Mart site, including the downtown area.

In addition to the study, the Planning Commission "... should not approve a site plan that does not include idling restrictions and traffic mitigation measures that address Wal-Mart’s contribution to Hartford’s increased and unsafe ozone levels."

Regarding the environmental concerns pertaining to the impact on the Rubicon, MEA suggests the city should require Wal-Mat to alter its site plan to reduce the environmental impacts.

MEA alleges the a store like the one proposed for Hartford will generate up to 600,000 gallons of stormwater during a one-inch rainstorm. That water will mix with the oil and grease from cars that utilize the parking lot in addition to salt used during the winter to remove ice and snow.

MEA states, "Polluted dirt and salt is swept away during rainfalls and ultimately discharged directly into the Rubicon River." In addition to the polluted runoff, MEA states the project would "... discharge an estimated 4,354 pounds of polluted sediment into the Rubicon each year."

To reduce the negative environmental impact, MEA recommends that the city require Wal-Mart to reduce the size of the development, "the use of oil and grease removal technology, a green roof, run-off rate control and/or alternate uses for run-off." The city should also prohibit the use of road salt on the parking lot and require alternatIve materials, such as sand, to eliminate snow and ice.