From the "Better Late Than Never" Department

At last night's Pullman City Council meeting, the council adopted its 2008 goals.

One goal in particular caught my eye.

Encourage growth, promote a welcoming business atmosphere, and consider passing a City Council resolution in support of the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter in Pullman

Those are all worthy goals. But a resolution supporting Wal-Mart? That would have been a heck of a lot more timely and appropriate back in Fall 2004, not Spring 2008. The District III Appellate Court decision is due any day now and I'm sure ground will be broken shortly thereafter. By the time the council gets around to "considering" a resolution, it might all be over.

It should be pointed out that Mayor Glenn Johnson and City Supervisor John Sherman have been outspoken supporters of a Wal-Mart Supercenter, and councilmembers Ann Heath, Bill Paul, and Nathan Weller all ran contested campaigns in which they publicly expressed support for the retail project in Pullman.

In related news, the Hayden Wal-Mart Supercenter project is moving ahead, with construction set to get underway this summer. That's good news for two reasons:

1. The same developer, CLC Associates from Spokane, is doing the Hayden development and the Pullman development.
2. The Hayden Supercenter has been in the works since 2002. It has faced many hurdles, much worse than the project here in Pullman, including city council rejection of a rezone request and efforts by a group similar to PARD. Wal-Mart actually withdrew from Hayden for some two years. But they retooled their plans, came back, and now it is about to happen. Like I've said before, when Wal-Mart sees a market it wants to get into, it is very patient. Pullman-Moscow is such a market.

Technorati Tags: wal-mart walmart