Unfortunately, a judge has ruled in favor of WalMart at this time. Here is a write up from the action, followed by an article on the judge’s ruling to deny the TRO requested by the Coalition for Safe and Healthy Economic Progress. This also comes after a major story that just broke regarding WalMart bribing Mexican officials to build the supercenters, rather than going through the proper process to obtain building permits. Guess where Mexico isn’t too far from… (hint: starts with S and ends in “an Diego”).
Walmart Battle in Sherman/Logan Reaches New Heights as Community Members Get Involved
In case you haven’t been paying attention, there is something big brewing in Sherman Heights, a small tight-knit and predominately Latino community just east of downtown San Diego. On Tuesday afternoon, community members driving by the historic Farmers Market building were shocked to see a huge chunk of the building demolished in preparation for a controversial proposed Walmart neighborhood market to be built in the location. As more community members rushed to the scene, construction of the building was put on halt and workers were sent home for the day.
Local community members and other concerned citizens and activist groups took to the scene the following day at 6:00 AM in an effort to prevent further demolition of the historic building and to demand that a stop-work order be issued until the permits could be assessed and the local community whose voice up to this point had been largely ignored. 40 community members armed with signs reading “We deserve better, Walmart says no!” in English and Spanish protested the demolition at the entrance to the construction zone while contractors and police watched in the vicinity.
Continue reading at WalMartTruth
KPBS reports on today’s ruling:
Judge Will Not Stop Walmart Construction In Sherman Heights
Monday, April 23, 2012
A judge today denied a bid for a temporary restraining order that would have stopped demolition work at the site of a Wal-Mart store in a landmark building in Sherman Heights.
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Above: Bulldozers took to the historic Farmer’s Market building on Imperial Avenue in San Diego six weeks after Walmart announced it would convert it into one of its stores.
Members of neighborhood and labor-affiliated groups claimed that Wal-Mart began demolishing the iconic Farmers Market building before issuing proper notice. They went to court last week in a bid to get the project shut down.
The retailer’s lawyers said it had the necessary permits to begin work on its future Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, which will be smaller than the typical big-box store and focus mainly on groceries. The site is in a building that has a tower that dominates the skyline east of Interstate 5 near downtown.
A city permit calls for seismic retrofits of the structure, including the removal of the north wall, windows, roof and floor.
In his ruling, Judge Joel Pressman said the work was consistent with city-approved plans that call for maintaining the facade. He also said the building, in its current condition, was a safety hazard, so the plaintiffs - the Coalition for Safe and Healthy Economic Progress - should have acted sooner.
Continue reading at KPBS.org
Video from this week’s Barrio Sherman community action to stop Walmart from demolishing an historic building against the community’s wishes and what was discussed in the past. Occupy San Diego is proud to support Sherman Heights in their fight against the 1%. If you can be in court on Monday morning at 9 AM, please do so! Information regarding that can be seen at the end of this video.
update via facebook:
By the way, Walmart stated at their press conference that on Wednesday, it was the first time they ever had to stop construction on anything. Ever.That’s right. 40 people from the community stopped the richest, most evil people in the universe from doing whatever they want to do. At least until Monday.
Communities have the power to push back. This is proof. So get out there and PUSH BACK. Make your communities what you want them to be BECAUSE YOU CAN.
Monday at 9:00am Hall of Justice 330 W Broadway San Diego, Ca 92101 “We just heard that the hearing is schedule for this coming Monday at 9am, same location as today the Hall of Justice building, 330 w. Broadway, dept. 66, we hope you can join us. Also, I want to clarify that what was agreed upon today was to have the demolition stopped till Monday. What this means is that construction crew is NOT allowed to tear down any more wall till the case is heard. But the crew is allowed to do other work if needed, they are also allowed on site.” URGENT RALLY! Walmart has completely disrespected the Sherman/Logan community! Walmart promised that they would keep Farmer’s Market building intact from the outside…THEY LIED! The demolition has started! We will not stand for that!
