Coalition Opposes Rohnert Park Wal-Mart Expansion

The Rohnert Park Planning Commission unanimously denied a Wal-Mart proposal to enlarge its existing discount store into a supercenter that sells both groceries and general merchandise.  Wal-Mart has appealed the decision to the city council.

The economic and environmental impacts of a supercenter will extend far beyond the City of Rohnert Park.  All county residents should be concerned about this proposal. The controversy raises fundamental questions about future growth and the necessity for proactive city and regional planning to promote equitable and sustainable development.

Development in the county is inevitable. According to the Association of Bay Area Governments, the population of Sonoma County will increase by twenty-three percent over the next twenty years. In 2008, voters approved a landmark initiative to meet this challenge, creating the two-county SMART train that will run on tracks adjacent to Highway 101 from Cloverdale to Larkspur. The build-out of the train system provides the opportunity for city-centered 'transit-oriented development' (TOD) around the fourteen SMART train stations--development that could accommodate ninety percent of the projected population growth.

TOD is densely-built, mixed-use development within one-half mile of transit stations, accessible by bike and foot, and with a variety of retail, office, and small businesses. Through land-use planning and public funding, municipalities can promote development near transit stations that includes good jobs paying family-supporting wages, affordable housing for all income groups, open space, and walkable neighborhoods.

The proposed 170,000 square-foot Wal-Mart supercenter located one-quarter mile from the site of the planned Rohnert Park SMART train station is a direct threat to such careful and appropriate planning.

The labor, environmental, and local business organizations opposing the Wal-Mart supercenter believe it undermines compact and equitable development in Rohnert Park and violates the city's general plan. The project undercuts transit-oriented development's efforts to reduce low-wage work, support local business, tackle global warming, and lay the foundation for a robust regional economy.

Nearly one third of the employees in the county are currently 'working poor' and do not earn self-sufficiency wages. According to the Insight Center for Community and Economic Development in 2008, two parents working full-time in Sonoma County must each earn $14.90 an hour or $62,940 a year to pay for food, housing, medical care, child care, and transportation.

Sonoma State economist Robert Eyler reports that the supercenter will contribute to job quality decline and increase the problem of working poverty. According to his analysis, the county will lose105-211 jobs---mostly good jobs that pay hourly wages for full-time workers ranging from $17.67 per hour at Pacific Market to $23.36 at Raley's and Safeway. The Wal-Mart super center will employ 450 workers, and according to the company, the typical full-time worker at Wal-Mart earns $12.10 an hour.

With regard to global warming, the supercenter will have adverse effects on air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. In order to comply with AB 32, a 2006 state legislative measure, all nine cities and the county have pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions twenty-five percent by 2015. However, the Eyler report notes, Pacific Market will close if the supercenter is built, and its 8,000 customers will drive an extra 28,400 miles each week to shop for groceries.

Further, Stacy Mitchell, author of Big Box Swindle, reports that vehicle miles driven per customer will increase because a supercenter draws shoppers from a greater distance than a discount store. Indeed, since Wal-Mart's rapid expansion in the late 1970s, miles traveled per household to shop has skyrocketed by three hundred percent, while total household driving increased by seventy- five percent.

As for local business, there are sixty local suppliers that provide produce and merchandise to Pacific Market, and more than seventy supply Oliver's in Cotati. Wal-Mart suppliers, on the other hand, are nearly 100% national and global firms (and that means increased truck traffic into the county). The 'Go Local' movement has demonstrated that patronizing local businesses ensures that more dollars remain in the community. Studies by Civic Economics demonstrate that locally-owned firms produce two to three times more economic activity within the local economy than national chains ---including locally-retained profits, wages paid to local residents, purchases from local suppliers, and contributions to local nonprofits.

The Rohnert Park City Council should uphold the decision of the planning commission, reject the Wal-Mart supercenter, and refocus the city's planning process to promote sustainable economic development.

Martin J. Bennett teaches American history at Santa Rosa Junior College, serves as co-chair of the Living Wage Coalition and is on the board of Sonoma County Conservation Action.

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