The decision ends a four-year political and legal battle
swirling around the Wal-Mart Supercenter
Gilroy – City leaders made a “good faith effort” to keep the public informed as they pushed through one of the most controversial developments in the last decade, a state appellate court has ruled.
The decision issued last week by the Sixth District Appellate Court of California likely spells the end of the four-year political and legal battle that swirled around the city’s Wal-Mart Supercenter.
The 220,000 square foot store opened in Gilroy’s southeast shopping hub last fall. The opening came less than a year after the big-box giant chose to proceed with construction despite the risk of a high court ruling that could have forced the store’s closure.
The gamble hinged on the appellate court ruling against Gilroy Citizens for Responsible Planning, a group of grocery store union workers who sought to block the project by challenging the city’s adherence to environmental protocols. The group’s complaint included a charge that city officials only gave neighbors of the project 42 days of advance notice prior to a public hearing, rather than the 45 days required by the California Environmental Quality Act.
The court found no evidence, however, “that any individual or agency who wished to comment failed to receive notice in a timely fashion and therefore lost the opportunity to comment.”
The 37-page ruling is “basically a complete victory for the city,” said Gilroy Acting City Attorney Andy Faber.
“This is a case,” he said, “in which the plaintiffs very thoroughly and exhaustively nit-picked the record, looking for any possible error.”
Bill Kopper, the attorney representing the union workers, took issue with the ruling, focusing on the lack of direct evidence that neighbors of the project received notification 45 days in advance. He said it was too early to say if his client would request a hearing of the matter before the California Supreme Court.
The Wal-Mart Supercenter serves as the main retail draw in the Pacheco Pass Shopping Center east of U.S. Highway 101. The center, one of the first two built in Northern California, offers groceries in addition to the retail giant’s usual list of discount products.
