Jacques Loveall, president of UFCW 8-Golden State, hailed a judge’s
ruling that struck down the approval by Atwater city officials of plans
to build a giant SuperTarget store.
In his June 27 decision, Merced County Superior Court Judge Ronald
Hansen ruled that the project’s potential
environmental impact on the community should have been studied more
extensively before it was submitted to Atwater planning officials.
“Judge Hansen made the right decision,”
Loveall said. “It was obvious that the
developers were trying to circumvent state environmental laws when they
concealed their intention to build a 24-hour SuperTarget store.”
The judge noted that the developer went to “great
lengths” to avoid using terms such as “super
center” and “super
store” when it submitted the proposal to the
city, Loveall said.
“The use of such terms would have
automatically triggered an environmental review of the possible impact
the store would have on existing Atwater businesses,”
Loveall said.
“Now that an environmental review is going
forward, we will have the time and the platform we need to uncover the
real effects that a SuperTarget store would have on the Atwater
community.”
Loveall noted that when stores like SuperTargets open in a community,
local businesses close and local wages and health benefits are driven
down. “City officials need to look closely at
these effects before they act,” he said.
30,000 UFCW 8-Golden State members work in stores, plants and offices
from the California-Oregon border in the north to Fresno County in the
south.”
|