A stream of residents, many wearing pins emblazoned with the word "jobs," marched to the microphone Wednesday to urge the Merced Planning Commission to support the proposed Wal-Mart distribution center.
In a meeting that lasted five-and-a-half hours, more than 37 people spoke in support of the controversial project while 19 argued against it. About 300 residents packed into the second-floor council chambers at City Hall and into the Sam Pipes Room downstairs.
"We must look for ways to attract business and not turn them away," MERCO Credit Union CEO Mike Malone said. "Vote to approve the Wal-Mart distribution center. If not, will the last person in Merced please turn off the light?"
The seven-member commission didn't make a decision on whether to recommend approval to the City Council. The commission will meet again at 6 p.m. on Monday to continue the meeting. It will only hear from the 25 residents who signed up to speak but left before they were called.
The hearing is the first of the last few hurdles for a project that's been in the works for four years. The final vote by the City Council is on the horizon. If approved, it's likely that opponents will sue the city. Tom Lippe, a San Francisco attorney hired by Merced Alliance for Responsible Growth, criticized the environmental report, asserting that it fails to fully evaluate the impact of air pollution created by the diesel trucks that will drive up and down Highway 99. He called the project a Ponzi scheme. "The capital that's being wasted is people's health," Lippe said.
Wal-Mart's supporters pointed to Merced's 17 percent unemployment rate, low education level, dismal economy and general poverty as critical reasons for why the project must be built. Several said they were surprised Wal-Mart was patient enough to deal with all the legal obstacles to build the project.
Opponents, who wore stickers reading, "Protect our families: No to Wal-Mart," cited the added pollution to the air and water, and traffic congestion as concessions that aren't worth the added jobs. They also said approving the project would be a short-sighted decision in light of the growth and jobs UC Merced will continue to create.
Merced resident Sophia Curiel said she's not political or against Wal-Mart but worries about the health of the children at Pioneer Elementary School, which is near the distribution center site. Despite loving the area, she said she decided against living there because of the distribution center.
"I'm not against jobs. I have an unemployed son," she said. "I'm here for the people who have no voice."
The evening began with a presentation by Planning Manager Kim Espinosa, who detailed the project's basic outline and what will be done to reduce its impacts.
Wal-Mart wants to build a 1.1 million-square-foot distribution center on 230 acres in southeast Merced. After three years of operation, the center should employ up to 1,200 people. Nine hundred of those jobs will be full-time positions. The average full-time wage of people working at its other facilities is $17.50.
City staff has recommended that the project be approved.
Kay Flanagan-Spinelli, a Merced real estate agent, said the project will help keep people's children from leaving the area in search of a job. "I don't want to see Merced dry up," she said.
Lee Boese Jr., a member of Citizens of the Betterment of Merced, toured Wal-Mart's Apple Valley distribution center and said he was impressed by its efficiency. No resident he spoke with said anything bad about it, Boese said.
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