Published: January 31, 2008 12:04 am            

BUSINESS: Town supervisor says Wal-Mart project may be set back six to 12 months

Town Supervisor Marc Smith said this week he thinks lawsuits against the town and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. may drag on six to 12 months.

Smith, a guest of Lockport Rotary Club at their weekly meeting Tuesday, took an audience question about the lawsuits and when a town-approved supercenter is likely to be built.

“My best guess, it’ll be six months before the suits are settled. Maybe a year. I hope not that long,” Smith said.

Late last year, Wal-Mart received town approvals for construction of a supercenter where the Lockport Mall stands.

Within a month of approval votes by the planning and zoning boards, Lockport Smart Growth Inc. and individual homeowners near the mall filed two suits alleging the boards broke town and state laws in granting the approvals.

The suits seek a court order barring Wal-Mart from building the supercenter under the approved plans. A Wal-Mart spokesman said previously the company would not bid out construction work until the suits are settled.

The supercenter plan was negotiated with the town on and off for three years before the final approvals. Smith said he does not foresee the company abandoning the project now.

“After all the money they’ve spent, it doesn’t make sense,” he said.

Smith also suggested the town will prevail when the suits are heard in state Supreme Court. Wal-Mart has been sued repeatedly over Western New York construction projects but none were upended. Opponents haven’t pressed their grievances at the state appellate court level either, he said.

Six months to settlement is not an unreasonable estimate, according to an attorney for Lockport Smart Growth. Two previously set court dates for arguments, Jan. 10 and Feb. 14, both were postponed. The sides are trying to agree on a March date now.

        

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