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The Atascadero Shield Initiative/ Measure D-08
With the urging from many of you, OWM felt the time was right to go on the offensive.
 The "Atascadero Shield Initiative" (Measure D-08) is designed to do just that,
"shield" the General Plan, small-town character and economic vitality of
Atascadero from predatory outside corporations and developers who want to
make Atascadero over in their vision of future growth.
As we have always maintained and as so many of you have voiced, we believe the community
should have the right to envision our own future and determine the pace,
size and scale of development. What we are proposing are minimal community
standards to guide reasonable growth.
We can expect that Wal-Mart/Rottman Group will throw a king's ransom into the fray to counter our initiative. But, we are confidant that Atascaderans can not be bought. When the rubber
hits the road, we believe that the voters of Atascadero will choose to be
Citizens first and consumers second.
Click here to read Meaure D-08 and learn more . . .
How Big Is Big?
Many of the negative impacts that big-box
retailers have on communities and local
economies are directly related to the size
of their stores:
Diminished competition—The bigger the
store, the bigger the bite it will take out of
the local economy. Wal-Mart's U.S. stores,
for example, annually average $418 sales
per square foot (Wal-Mart 2005 Annual
Report), meaning a 200,000-square-foot
supercenter is designed to capture $84
million each year. Most communities, even
fast-growing areas, cannot absorb a store
of that scale without severe revenue
losses to existing businesses, including
both locally owned stores and competing
supermarkets and shopping centers.
As these businesses contract and close,
residents are left with fewer choices and
less competition. Some towns and neigh-
borhoods now depend on a single big-box
store for certain goods. Evidence suggests
that these retailers may raise prices once
they attain a dominant market position.
Heavier Traffic—The larger the store, the
larger the geographic region from which it
pulls customers and the higher the traffic
counts. A 200,000-square-foot superstore
typically generates more than 10,000 car
trips on weekdays and more on Saturdays.
Atascadero City Council Takes a Stand, Supercenter on Hold
Oppose Wal-Mart thanks all the residents of Atascadero for caring so much about the future of our city, and who have voluntarily stepped forward in so many ways. Pat yourselves on the back for participating in Oppose Wal-Mart all these months and for being part of the 62.5 percent of those who said they want to preserve the General Plan at the Tuesday, 10/23 City Council Meeting and Special City Council meeting Monday, 10/29 night's success.
Click to read more . . .
OPPOSE WAL-MART MISSION STATEMENT
"Keep Atascadero Wal-Mart Free!!!"
Oppose Wal-Mart (OWM) is an all volunteer, locally funded, grass-roots organization made up of women and men, young and old, union and non-union, Democrats, Republicans, Greens and Independents from all occupations.
Our primary mission is to protect our city and way of life. OWM encourages good economic development, which is sustainable, diverse, pedestrian and environmentally friendly, a prosperous and successful town where we can raise our children in an environment without unmanageable traffic, noise, and LA style urbanization. Supercenters are bad economic development that we believe would change our city's character forever.
We are all neighbors who may have differences in our vision for the future of Atascadero, but what binds us together is more than what divides us. The proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter is dividing us!
OWM has always put Atascadero first. That is what is most important. If everything Wal-Mart and its supporters say is TRUE, we world not oppose the supercenter project. However, in our search for what it would really mean if a Wal-Mart Supercenter came to town, we discovered many independent and academic studies that revealed the reality versus the rhetoric of Wal-Marts arguments. Those studies and the information are on this website. Moreover, these studies convinced us that a supercenter is just not good economic development for Atascadero. We are, and have always said that OWM is for good economic development at the Annex that provides a "Triple bottom line!"—a positive return on investment for the city, developer and the community.
• 'Lifestyle Centers' Make Shopping Fashionable
• Chula Vista 'Lifestyle Center' Trumps Mall
The supercenter that WalMart has proposed is huge and totally out of scale with Atascadero. Click the image below to see how big it will be in our city.
Join your neighbors and help us keep Atascadero a great place to live. Click Here to learn more about what you can do. If you'd like to Donate, Click Here.
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