Open Letter to Mayor Johnson and City Council - Do Not Repeal the Superstore Ordinance
by Michael Murphy, published on August 18, 2013 at 4:21 PM
I have lived in Central City for over 25 years. I have had the pleasure of watching my neighborhood grow organically throughout the years. Small businesses have blossomed. We calmed the traffic. We created Second Saturday, which promotes local artists and artisans, and made many other positive changes during those years. Midtown was not the celebrated neighborhood that it is today.
This ordinance was a reaction to an ill-conceived plan by Westfield Mall to bring a Wal-Mart at the Downtown Plaza. Westfield’s Roseville Galleria gets Tiffany’s and Downtown Sacramento gets Wal-Mart. Residents reacted and the City Council listened and enacted the big box ordinance.
I believe that an Economic Impact Analysis (EIA) with a wage benefit analysis component is critical for a community. It protects our local business community. It allows small businesses the opportunity to weigh in and allows the community a chance to make sure a big box store compliment our community. It also studies a host of other issues such as wage and benefit analysis, environmental issues, traffic, an exit strategy, and a host of other issues.
The wage and benefit analysis is a true indicator as to whether a big box store will truly benefit the community. An EIA compares how many jobs a big box store will create vs. how many a big box store will destroy, it gauges whether there will be a net benefit for the community. The wage and benefit analysis takes the EIA a step further by comparing a net gain for the city as to revenue generated vs. revenue lost.
While there are hundreds of studies that show how big box stores negatively