BY ALLISON FASHEK, Times of Northwest Indiana
afashek@nwitimes.com
CROWN POINT | After months of putting off action on a developer's proposal to build retail shops, including a Wal-Mart, just off of Interstate 65, the city's Plan Commission voted down the project Monday.
Attorney Richard Anderson, representing Lauth Property Group, again explained the potential benefits -- $43 million in construction contracts, 1,039 part-time and full-time jobs and a way to pay for the extension of Mississippi Street. But commission member Paul Bremer immediately proposed a motion to deny site development plan approval.
The project conflicts with a new city ordinance, which says developers who want to build retail stores of more than 75,000 square feet in a business district must go to the Board of Zoning Appeals and City Council for a special use permit, Bremer said. Lauth planned to build two anchor stores at the intersection of I-65 and U.S. 231, one 203,000 square feet and another 88,400 square feet.
Only commission member John Marshall voted to keep the proposal alive.
Following the vote, Lauth officials and Anderson said they had no comment when asked what the next step might be.
The vote comes after a weekend in which Wal-Mart did marketing research in Crown Point, having residents questioned by phone about whether they would shop at a Wal-Mart in the city. Crown Point administrative assistant Donna Martin said two dozen people called the city Monday, some upset, reporting they had been contacted by Wal-Mart.
Keith Morris, community affairs manager for Wal-Mart, said the goal was to identify supporters and see what people knew about the proposal.
The intent, he said, has been to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Crown Point with an exterior unlike other stores in the region, including architectural details to prevent it from looking like a box, Morris said. The store would sell clothing, furniture and electronics, such as plasma screen televisions, not available in most Wal-Marts.
"We knew if we were coming into Crown Point, when the city was talking about design guidelines, we knew we'd be expected to do something unique in terms of the look and feel of the building," Morris said.
According to Morris, data from the past month shows that people with Crown Point zip codes are spending $500,000 a week in the Hobart, Schererville and Valparaiso Wal-Marts. People worried that a Crown Point Wal-Mart would hurt the downtown should realize city merchants are already being hurt by U.S. 30 retailers, he said.
"After you have a magnet, a national attraction like a Wal-Mart or a Target, it keeps more people in the community," Morris said.