Wal-Mart ends interest in South Hill site

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has announced that it’s not interested in building a supercenter at 44th Avenue and Regal Street.

The retailer decided not to build on the controversial site because transmission towers would interfere with computers necessary for store operations, according to a news release sent Monday morning by Jennifer Holder, senior manager of public affairs for Wal-Mart. Efforts to eliminate the interference proved unsuccessful, she said.

“Wal-Mart based its decision strictly on business and operational factors. The company has a commitment to be fiscally responsible to its shareholders and pursuing a store at that location would not be a good investment of their money,” Holder said in the release.

The building site had generated controversy because a wetland once existed there but was filled in by road construction and developer activity before Wal-Mart came into the picture. The site is owned by Harlan Douglass.

Opponents, who sought to have the wetland restored, didn’t believe Wal-Mart’s decision was solely based on dollars and cents.

“I think if we had laid back and let them go, it would have been built by now,” said Ann Morlin.

Last March, after the Wal-Mart project was announced, Morlin filed a code enforcement complaint, asking the city to investigate the wetland’s disappearance and restore it. She lives within 300 feet of the site.

After Morlin’s complaint, the city admitted it had buried part of the wetland without obtaining the proper permit. She and others still plan to pursue the wetland’s restoration.

Residents also worried about more traffic congestion on Regal, which has two schools and a soccer field and bottlenecks into a two-lane road heading south.

Wal-Mart has no immediate plans for an alternate location, but the release said the company still wants a South Hill store.