Town Approves Lease with Wal-Mart for Community Garden

Final Approval Hinges on Upset Bid Process

Story by Kathleen McFadden With Wal-Mart in the background, Zan Landowne prepared her plot for planting potatoes at the Leola Street Community Garden earlier this week. The Boone Town Council has approved a lease with Wal-Mart for the 1.2-acre garden that will give the retail center the green space it needs to expand the store. Photo by Ken Ketchie

The Boone Town Council has unanimously approved a lease agreement with Wal-Mart for the site of the Leola Street Community Garden, an arrangement that will give the company the green space it needs to expand the store in compliance with the town’s development ordinance. In return, the town will receive $60,000 per year for 45 years, and Wal-Mart will continue to allow the space to be used as a community garden.

Council members initially approved the lease after a closed session meeting on March 31, but took up the matter again in closed session at their meeting on April 17. In a vote after that meeting, the council approved the opening of a 10-day upset bid process for the lease. Because the term of the lease exceeds 10 years, it is subject to the upset bid process.

If no one trumps Wal-Mart’s offer during the upset bid period and if the company complies with the timelines set out in the lease agreement, residents can expect to see an expanded store with an improved façade at the current site.

The Wal-Mart building is currently approximately 122,000 square feet, and the planned expansion is approximately 27,738 square feet, for a total of 149,978 square feet—just under the town’s 150,000 square foot limitation.

The lease contains no provision for increasing rental payments over the lease term.
The lease requires Wal-Mart to obtain all internal approvals by May 11 and to obtain permits for the expansion within nine months of the effective date of the lease.

The lease also requires that the leased tract—approximately 1.2 acres—be preserved as a community garden or similar green space to be used and maintained for public or municipal purposes.

Wal-Mart approached the town with the proposal to lease the property.

In March 2004, Wal-Mart representatives appeared before the Boone Board of Adjustment with a proposal for expanding the store. At that time, Wal-Mart proposed a 72,162 square foot expansion into a supercenter that would include a grocery store and would total 194,402 square feet. The expansion was planned for the parking lot area to the right of the store.

Along with a request to modify its special use permit, the store was requesting approval of two variances from the Board of Adjustment: relaxations of the town’s green space and parking requirements.

The Board of Adjustment heard the case for the green space variance first and denied Wal-Mart’s request. Representatives for the store withdrew the case after failing to gain the board’s approval on the first variance request.

Since 2004, however, the town council has amended the town’s Unified Development Ordinance to limit commercial structures to 150,000 square feet, explaining why Wal-Mart is planning to expand by 28,000 square feet in 2008, compared to the proposed 72,000 square foot expansion in 2004.