First, the disclaimer:
I am an active member of the Northwest Citizens for Responsible Growth.
I have served as spokesperson for the group through much of the eight+ years in which we have been opposing the current JLD Properties St. Albans Walmart application.
Here follows our formal statement on the Supreme Court decision to uphold the permit:
The Northwest Citizens for Responsible Growth are extremely disappointed by the decision of Vermont's Supreme Court with regard to the J.L.D. Properties Walmart permit application.
The decision indicates a disregard for citizen access within the local permit process, not to mention for the validity of that process itself.
The judges acknowledged the egregious nature of conflicts of interest that occurred in the local permit process, which is the only level at which ordinary citizens may participate without devoting considerable financial resources to the effort. By ruling that those conflicts of interest do not matter because of the "de novo" nature of the Environmental Court hearing, they are saying essentially that the local permit is meaningless.
We sincerely hope for the best possible outcome for our communities, and we trust that the careful scrutiny that we will apply to Mr. Davis' St. Albans Walmart, both during the construction phase and throughout its operation, will serve to ensure that this will be the most scrupulously operated Walmart store in history, and that none of the issues of traffic congestion, secondary growth, store closings and environmental degradation that we fear will be allowed to ensue.
There is so much more I'd like to say about this, but I'll reserve that for another time. |
