Group sues again
over Keeaumoku complex
A citizens group opposed to construction of the Wal-Mart/Sam's Club complex on Keeaumoku Street is challenging in court the Zoning Board's earlier decision awarding the developer a permit to begin the foundation and groundwork.
Citizens against Reckless Development filed an appeal yesterday in Circuit Court against the Zoning Board of Appeals, the director of the Department of Planning & Permitting and Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust.
Wal-Mart is constructing a 317,000-square-foot combined discount retail store and Sam's Club, including a four-story parking structure. It received final city approval in May when it obtained a building permit allowing construction to begin. A conditional use permit and other permits issued earlier allowed ground and foundation work only.
The citizens group had appealed the issuance of the conditional use permit to the Zoning Board twice but was told it did so too late. "We're saying even if they were right that we're too late, we should be able to come before the court now," said K. Bartlett Durand Jr., an attorney for the citizens group.
Meanwhile, the group has asked the director of the Department of Planning & Permitting for a declaratory ruling on the validity of the decision that Sam's Club is a retail establishment, Durand said.
The citizens group contends that Sam's Club is a wholesale establishment and must obtain a zoning variance to allow it into a retail-establishment area, he said. The Zoning Board will hear that appeal Sept. 25.
If the group's appeal is upheld by the Zoning Board or the court, Durand said it will ask the court to refuse to allow Wal-Mart to open until it goes through the proper steps. "The department hasn't given it a full review, so it's possible it can yank the whole thing," he said.
