On Tuesday, Aug. 1, the Ballston town board unanimously voted to not accept Wal-Mart’s application to build a 203,000 square-foot super center at the corner of routes 67 and 50.
At the meeting, councilwoman and Republican Mary Beth Hynes expressed her opposition to Wal-Mart in a statement she had prepared for the town board.
I remain strongly opposed to Wal-Mart’s application. I will continue to oppose and speak out against it, she said.
Hynes said Wal-Mart would threaten life in Ballston and cause irreparable damage to the town’s rural character.
Hynes said she had been criticized by town residents and members of her own party, but `doing what is right for Ballston’s future is more important than being popular.`
Hynes added, `This is the wrong project, in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Not here, not ever.`
At the conclusion of her speech, almost every resident in the town hall’s community room stood up clapping and cheering in agreement.
Supervisor Raymond Callanan said he could not support Wal-Mart’s application either.
`Based on the traffic study in that area and the projected 12,000 extra trips a day, I find that this project adversely affects the local streets and goes against what the town’s comprehensive plan calls for,` he said.
The council members then went to a vote, and all five members voted to reject Wal-Mart’s application.
Ballston resident Jennifer David said she was glad the board didn’t drag out the situation any longer.
`We have been waiting for this for a long time, and I’m glad that the board made the right decision instead of dragging it out,` she said.
David pointed to the town’s comprehensive plan that discourages large development projects.
Spokesman for the Ballston neighborhood organization Con-cerned Citizens for Smart Growth Ben Walter Baskin said he was thoroughly pleased with the outcome of the night’s meeting.
`Board members heard our arguments against Wal-Mart and to their credit, they listened and we convinced them,` he said.
Baskin said Wal-Mart is the first of many fights to come. He said because the town didn’t vote to exercise a size cap during the rezoning process, many more big box development projects will be trying to come into the town.
`This town board did the right thing, but what will happen when a new board is elected?` he asked. `Wal-Mart hires people to fight for them. We all have day jobs. We don’t want to play the role of Ballston’s protector all the time.`
Baskin said the fight against Wal-Mart is not about the com-pany, but about all large-scale development projects.
`Wal-Mart needs 100,000 people to sustain it, Ballston is a community of 9,000,` Baskin said, adding that instead of `big box` development projects with large parking lots, he supports mixed-use development projects.
Baskin said the victory Concerned Citizens for Smart Growth had over Wal-Mart could be an example to other neigh-borhood community organizations.
`It is up to the residents of the town to preserve their town, to know what their town government is doing and exercise their democratic rights,` he said.
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