Originally posted by: Ornery
The government shouldn't tax the living shlt out of businesses, for the sake of making the climate ripe for businesses to move in. That would also be known as "creating jobs".
And government shouldn't grant favors to huge corporations that have no need of incentives just because the corporation planted a shill on the city council.
Great job at selective quoting... let's see the whole truth!
The real truth about how Blaydes constituants feel
Not-So-Texan Blaydes must be sweating bullets today. Not only did 56% of the 10,378 voting voters in his District 10 come out FOR a Stronger Mayor, but he probably lost another thousand or so supporters with his behavior at the council hearing over the new Wal-Mart he's forcing on his constituents.
Poor old Wal-Mart is the most unpopular, popular store in the World. Everybody likes to shop there, but no one wants a Wal-Mart near their neighborhood. There's a problem area at Abrams and Forest that Not-So-Texan Blaydes thinks can be fixed with a Wal-Mart (and a tax abatement, of course).
The people nearby don't agree.
Contested Wal-Mart zoning vote today; Lake Highlands: Tax break proposal fuels fury of some neighbors
Wednesday, November 9, 2005 by EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News
For years, the intersection of Forest Lane and Abrams Road has been a black eye in Lake Highlands. Drug dealers and prostitutes frequent the extended-stay hotels and run-down apartments. An office building sits vacant.
But some area residents are mad about plans to raze the property just south of LBJ Freeway and replace it with a Wal-Mart Super Center. And they're furious that they haven't been told about a quietly circulating proposal to grant the project's developer a $1 million sales tax rebate.
The zoning change for the project, the most controversial "big box" since the city ended its moratorium on them and put in new large-scale retail standards last fall, is to come before the Dallas City Council today.
Homeowners say they're ready to see new development at the intersection, as long as it's not a big-box store.
... But City Council member Bill Blaydes, who has been working on this project for nearly two years, argues that the Wal-Mart would eliminate blight, reduce crime in northeast Dallas and bring much-needed tax revenue into the city.
... The details of the proposed tax rebate are less clear. According to Mayor Laura Miller, who approached the city's economic development team after a reporter asked her about a rebate, Mr. Blaydes and city staff members have been crafting a deal to make land costs more manageable for the developer, John Christon. ... the plan was to grant the developer half of the sales tax revenue that the Lake Highlands Wal-Mart produces specifically for the city of Dallas, up to $1 million.
... if the developer asked for the rebate, Mr. Blaydes said, the City Council would have to approve it.
...
Ms. Miller said. "I've gotten so many e-mails from people who don't want this store in their neighborhood. If they knew they were also being asked to subsidize it, they'd be very upset."
... "There's a tremendous amount of opposition to this project," Ms. Noel said. "We are of the opinion that there could be a better use for the site."
... Mr. Blaydes said. "Don't tell me there's a problem. The fact is ... [the opponents] just don't want a Wal-Mart."
... "This is about us taking one for a team I don't want to be on," the Town Creek resident said. "No one in America would choose to live near a Wal-Mart."
During the testimony, one of Blaydes' constituents said all council members the opposition had talked with told them that if their councilman wants it, it's a done deal. The man who was going to end ward politics is now the king of District 10, rather than its representative at City Hall.
Wal-Mart gets city's go-ahead; Dallas: Council approves Lake Highlands project, plan for old post office
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
by DAVE LEVINTHAL and EMILY RAMSHAW / The Dallas Morning News
... the council approved a hotly debated plan for a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Lake Highlands, saying it's high time to clean up the property at Forest Lane and Abrams Road.
The council's overwhelming approval was opposed at Wednesday's public hearing by dozens of homeowners who spoke out against a project they say will choke their neighborhood with traffic and unwanted foot traffic. Mayor Laura Miller, who alone voted against the project, agreed.
... But council member Bill Blaydes, who has worked on the development for two years, said the dissenters aren't representative of his district, which he said overwhelmingly favors the new Wal-Mart.
... Ms. Miller said Mr. Blaydes and staff members have been crafting a deal to make land costs more manageable for developer John Christon. She said she was told the plan was to grant the developer half of the sales tax revenue that the Lake Highlands Wal-Mart produces specifically for the city of Dallas, up to $1 million.
... Mr. Blaydes said, the council will still have to approve any tax abatement.
On Wednesday, Ms. Miller also questioned the council's plans to grant a $1 million subsidy for a new Carnival grocery store in Oak Cliff.
After another redevelopment decision, downtown's long-vacant U.S. Post Office Building will also realize a new use.
By a 13-2 vote, the council approved a Historic Development Program property tax abatement, which city staff estimated to be worth more than $243,000, to help redevelop the building on Ervay Street.
... But Ms. Miller, who voted against the abatement, argued that the city would probably forgo more than $1 million in property tax revenue over the next 10 years.
... This abatement vote comes three weeks after the council voted 11-2 to pass a $6.3 million commercial tax abatement for billionaire oilman Ray Hunt's new headquarters building on the edge of downtown's booming Arts District ? again over the objection of Ms. Miller and Mr. Rasansky.