Wal-Mart Drops Building Proposal At North Side Site Newport Highway Location Too Controversial For Retailer

Unpublished correction: One of the possible locations for a Wal-Mart store is a 30-acre site at Colton Street and Holland Avenue. The story contains an incorrect street name.

Wal-Mart’s long and controversial attempt to build a store on a 40-acre site on the Newport Highway is finally over.

The mega-retailer has formally dropped out of a lawsuit seeking to overturn a Spokane County zoning decision, in effect signaling its intention to find a site elsewhere in North Spokane.

That leaves the Pente Limited Partnership, which owns the land in dispute, as the only party in the lawsuit, which was filed in August after an appeal on a county zoning decision was denied.

And the Nelson family, which makes up the Pente Partnership, has entered discussions with the neighborhood group to find a development the community could live with, which could result in the suit being dropped altogether.

The two parties met Tuesday and will likely meet again next week, said Kathy Spencer, Citizens for Neighborhood Preservation board member.

“It was what we had asked for 2-1/2 years ago,” Spencer said. “And if this meeting had happened 2-1/2 years ago, this (controversy) would never have happened.”

Representatives of the Nelson family and of Wal-Mart did not respond to requests for comment.

Wal-Mart withdrew from the lawsuit Feb. 9, realizing there was little to gain from a protracted legal battle, said Spokane County attorney Tim Durkin.

“They realized they may have caused ill will in Spokane County,” Durkin said. “It was not a favorable position to take when there were other suitable sites in Spokane County.”

Wal-Mart had long sought to build its 130,000-square-foot store on the Nelson family’s property, which had once been a nursery.

The land, however, was not zoned for a high-impact retail business like Wal-Mart, and attempts to rezone it were fought by neighbors who objected to the lights and traffic that would be generated by the store and another 100,000 square feet of retail space planned by the partnership.

Where Wal-Mart will now look is a source of speculation among the real estate community.

Possible locations that have been discussed include:

A 31-acre site across the Newport Highway owned by retired taxidermist Walter Knopp.

A 30-acre site at Colter Street and Holland Avenue, which the city of Spokane must sell to develop a sports complex near Albi Stadium.

A number of sites on Division and Nevada owned by North Side developer Harlan Douglass.

And even the Shadle Park Center, which is undergoing renovation and is owned in part by Paul Hawkins, Wal-Mart’s Spokane real estate agent.

“I would look at them to go along the Nevada corridor,” said developer John Morrow. “Harlan Douglass has a lot of land over there along Nevada and Lincoln Road, and he has had some discussions about offering that to them. (But) Wal-Mart wants to buy and Harlan is not a seller.”

Traditionally, Morrow said, Wal-Mart has chosen to buy lots in secondary locations, trusting that the store’s name and reputation would bring customers to more-remote sites. That could rule out Douglass’ highly visible properties on Division near Magnesium and between Wedgewood and Lyons.

WHAT’S NEXT New development? The family that owns the land Wal-Mart wanted to build on has entered into discussions with a neighborhood group to find a development the community could live with.