The Duluth City Council's interest in setting guidelines for large commercial buildings grew out of bitter fights over Wal-Mart's proposed second store at Peachtree Industrial Boulevard.
The Duluth City Council on Monday night postponed action on new rules for construction of buildings over 75,000 square feet.
Although the proposed ordinance was the result of a months-long study about large scale development, and had been tweaked for weeks by city planner Clifford Cross to reflect comments from staff, council members and the public, the council tabled the measure until next Monday.
Tom Wheeler, owner of commercial real estate company Wheeler Kolb Management, said he thought the council was moving too fast on the measure and hadn't considered how it would discriminate against "people who have planned well and hung on to their property."
Such as his clients the Hudgens family, he said, whose generosity to the community in donating land for hospitals, museums and parks could not be overstated.
"Development cannot be by rule of the mob," Wheeler said. "It has to be by reasonable rules. I don't think you've hit the balance here yet."
Full Story: http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/2007/12/11/bigbox1211b.html
Wal-Mart Test
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Duluth council postpones action on new development rules that would affect megastores such as the one proposed on Peachtree Industrial
By Eileen Drennen
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 11, 2007
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