Residents Praise Trustees and Citizen for Blocking Walmart

Residents concerned about a proposed Walmart in Caledonia praised the Village Board for taking steps this week to block plans for the store at 4-Mile and Green Bay roads.

Trustees unanimously agreed Monday to hold a public hearing on designating the corner as a office park after receiving a presentation from resident Katie Tiderman. If the village goes forward with identifying that corner as an office park, Walmart would not be allowed to build there.

Tiderman presented her idea as an alternative to three options that Racine County Planning Director Julie Anderson initially gave the board that designated the area as mixed used — which would allow residential, retail and some commercial uses with the option to limit the size of both individual and multi-tenant buildings.

In her talking points to the board, Tiderman said designating the land as an office park instead of mixed use would provide a transitional, well-defined development area and a more diverse tax base. It also would address concerns some officials had about low-income housing in the area as well as increased traffic, she said.

"We really wanted to come up with a plan that made sense long-term for what's best for Caledonia," Tiderman said after the meeting Monday. "It's not just about keeping Walmart out, but we really listened to what trustees said and this is the plan we came up with

After the public hearing - expected sometime in mid-September - the board will take up a formal vote to adopt the change of the village's land-use plan. The vote is widely expected to be unanimous again, effectively putting an end to Walmart's proposal to build a 182,000-square-foot supercenter on the site.

Residents at Monday’s meeting applauded the decision.

"I think this is very promising," said resident Melissa Warner. "I think this is a much better deal for neighborhood residents."

But residents had even more praise for Tiderman and the energy she put into researching the zoning and land use issues, as well as the office park idea.

"Thank you, Katie, for leading the charge," Margo Tepley posted.

Kelly Bain said, "This was a great a idea!"

Trustee Kathy Trentadue is satisfied with the decision because she feels like residents had a significant say in what happens in their neighborhood.

"Elected officials listened to the people, and that's important," she said. "You never know what could happen, but people have what they want in their neighborhood."

Tiderman was grateful for the board's support, and posted this comment on the No Walmart in Rural Caledonia Facebook page:

"I would never profess to be able to create or advise policy in the Village, but the opportunity to take an idea and have an honest dialogue with those you elect is invaluable."

Trustee Tom Weatherston likes the office park designation because it allows for the greatest flexibility.

"Mixed use definitions would have been debated forever and would have restricted the use of the property in the future," he said. "Office park allows much more flexibilty."