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Albuquerque City Council sets new guidelines for big-box stores
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If it seems challenging to navigate the aisles of Wal-Mart Supercenters, try being the person who plans them.
That job just got a lot more complicated.
The City Council on Aug. 20 passed a 31-page ordinance setting guidelines for the location and look of new "big-box" retail stores, from the size of the streets on which they're built to the number of trees outside.
It's a measure aimed at better melding future Wal-Marts, Targets and Home Depots into their surroundings and providing vehicle access that doesn't flood city neighborhoods with unwanted traffic.
"We want to improve the physical environment of the city. It builds equity in communities. It's something people pay attention to," said council President Debbie O'Malley, who sponsored the bill. "What this bill does is it requires that developers step up in terms of design of buildings and materials."
The bill centers around retail structures of 75,000 square feet or larger. Here's some of what it does:
Location: The bill sets guidelines as to where the businesses can be located relative to the size of street. For example, stores between 75,000 and 90,000 square feet must be adjacent to a "collector" street with at least two traffic lanes. A store of 125,000 square feet or larger must be within 700 feet of the intersection of one four-lane road and one six-lane road.
Design: O'Malley said the bill sets design standards so "big-box" stores no longer look like big boxes. It prohibits materials such as chain-link fencing and wood board panels, calls for creating "village centers" that integrate better into surrounding neighborhoods, and sets exterior landscaping standards down to precise detail, such as the requirement to put one shade tree per every eight parking spaces.
O'Malley said the bill, which she introduced in October, isn't meant to stifle or restrict the construction of big-box retailers. Other cities, she said, have prohibited the largest of those buildings, while her bill still allows them.
Nonetheless, the bill — which passed on a 7-2 vote — has its detractors. Voting against it were councilors Sally Mayer and Don Harris, who said he approved of the bill's intention while calling it "too byzantine."
Mayer said such onerous regulations would have likely prohibited Wal-Mart from redeveloping the Wyoming Mall in her Northeast Heights district.
She fears the bill could harm the chances of dormant properties being redeveloped in her district.
"Neighborhoods are seldom hurt by a successful family business," Mayer said. "But they are hurt by failed properties that are undeveloped because of legislation like this."
Sharing a similar concern is Chuck Gara, chairman of the New Mexico Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties.
Gara and others in the building community spent months working on the legislation. While he said the bill still has its flaws, he supported it on Aug. 20 and said the kinks need to be worked out on a case-by-case basis.
"We're not 100 percent satisfied," Gara said shortly after the bill passed, "but I don't think anybody is."
