Posted By: Margaret Pozzini

By Erica Meltzer , arizona daily starSun Nov 5, 3:40 AM ET

Retail giant Wal-Mart will pay Pima County $35 million for the right to build a Supercenter southwest of Tucson, at Ajo Way and Kinney Road.
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The $35 million — an estimated 2 percent of the store's retail sales over the next 25 years — will go for transportation needs that improve access to the store, and for enhancements to nearby Tucson Mountain Park and other environmental mitigation.

Company representatives and county officials are calling the deal a model that balances the needs of residents, the store and the environment.

The development agreement, which is likely to be approved by the Board of Supervisors later this month, stands in contrast to the tortured negotiations between city officials and developers over a proposed big-box store at 36th Street and Kino Parkway on the South Side.

It's been two years since a proposal for a 65-acre biosciences park, an upscale housing development and a retail center first surfaced.

KB Home and Eastbourne Investments Ltd. still haven't submitted formal plans to the city, though they plan to do so later this month.

It took a year of serious negotiations among Wal-Mart, developer Donahue-Schriber and Pima County to reach an agreement for a 123,000-square-foot Wal-Mart Supercenter, along with other stores, restaurants and banks on a 30-acre site at the northwest corner of Ajo and Kinney.

Wal-Mart will submit to the county's design-review process; comply with the "dark skies" ordinance, which curbs light pollution to aid astronomers; use landscaping designed by the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum; and limit hours of operation.

The 2 percent of its retail sales over 25 years is in addition to $600,000 in road impact fees.

The developer already had commercial zoning for the site.

Half the money will go toward road improvements, including widening Kinney Road, improving the intersection of Ajo and Kinney and adding a stoplight and a bus stop at the shopping center. The other half will go toward environmental mitigation, including the purchase of more land to buffer Tucson Mountain Park from development.

Wal-Mart will put up some of the money for the $20 million in road improvements in advance and be reimbursed from the set-aside later. The Wal-Mart money will supplement 1997 transportation bond money and state road money. The store is scheduled to open in late 2008 or early 2009.

"It's an example of how communities can take advantage of the opportunities offered by development," said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Delia Garcia. "Sometimes people think the developer always is the one who wins. The community can win, too."

County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry said the road improvements are critical both to the county and Wal-Mart.

"We had fairly little leverage other than saying we're not going to let you do a huge retail project without adequate transportation," he said. "They want to be successful, and it's going to be hard to be successful without improving the roads."

County officials said the area needs stores to serve the fast-growing population. In the last 10 years, the county has issued just four retail permits for the area between Mission Road and Ryan Airfield, compared with 4,088 residential permits.

At the same time, the location is sensitive because it lies along the main route into Tucson from the west, as well as along a route to Saguaro National Park West and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and the southern entrance to Tucson Mountain County Park.

The development also brings more traffic and pollution within a few miles of Tucson Mountain Park.

"These things impact the desert in ways that are hard to measure," said Assistant County Administrator Nanette Jenkins, who was closely involved in the negotiations.

Supervisor Sharon Bronson, a Democrat who represents the area, said she was satisfied with the deal, though she's not crazy about Wal-Mart.

"I would prefer this not be there if I had my druthers," she said. "But we're not interested in playing a zero-sum game. We want the community to win. If it's all about ideology as opposed to reality, you're not going to get this kind of deal."

Ideology at times has played a larger role in the city's dealings with Eastbourne on the 36th and Kino property. Although Wal-Mart and the developer have not signed an agreement, the retail giant has frequently been mentioned in negotiations as a likely occupant.

Councilman Steve Leal suggested the developer agree to set aside jobs for area residents, pay a living wage and charge an additional 2 percent sales tax to finance programs in the area, in exchange for the city's waiving its big-box ordinance, which restricts stores larger than 100,000 square feet.

Leal has dropped some of those demands and supports waiving the big-box ordinance for the project. However, he still wants whoever the retail tenant is to pay for community projects, including small-business assistance and job training in the area.

"The important thing is that there is mitigation, such as it's needed," he said.

He said the county deal appears to be a good model.

"It starts to set a standard," he said. "It should show the people who might be Wal-Mart's landlord what their tenant would be open to."

But Leal said it's not fair to compare the city and the county too much. The city project involves a complicated land swap involving the University of Arizona, KB Home and Eastbourne. Also, Wal-Mart already had the zoning it needed in the county, and the county has no big-box ordinance.

Eric Davis of Retail West Properties, Eastbourne's partner, said a proposal would be submitted to the city within a few weeks and likely would include money for infrastructure improvements.

Though Wal-Mart and the developer say they have not had formal discussions, Davis said he hopes to get an approval that includes a waiver of the big-box ordinance that would allow a Supercenter at 36th and Kino.

Garcia said it wouldn't be appropriate to comment on the city's negotiations because Wal-Mart is not the designated tenant there. However, she praised the "responsiveness" of the county supervisors and noted that the neighborhoods around 36th and Kino are underserved.

Neighbors couldn't agree more. The closest shopping is at Campbell Avenue and Irvington Road. Many residents don't have cars.

"Wal-Mart would be great for the community," said Cindy Ayala, vice president of the Pueblo Gardens Neighborhood Association, northeast of Kino and 36th. "It's not what we want. It's what we need."

Ayala said she's encouraged to see Eastbourne and the city close to a deal, and she hopes the city doesn't put up any more roadblocks to the store.

Out in the county, neighbors of the proposed Wal-Mart mostly are happy with the deal.

John Kurath, an architect who lives in Millstone Manor, off Kinney and Bopp roads, said the closest shopping is at Cardinal Avenue and Valencia Road, eight to 10 miles away.

"It's not in the neighborhood, and it's not on the way home," he said. "We don't have on this side of the (Tucson) mountains a lot of shopping."

Kurath said he did have some concerns, but he praised the county for sticking to its rules and the company for working with the community.

Steve Rankin, an English teacher at Pima Community College West who also lives in Millstone Manor, had mixed feelings about the project.

He's worried about increased traffic, but he's happy the intersection of Ajo and Kinney will be improved. Making a left turn onto Ajo from Kinney is an ordeal.

"If development helps improve it, then that will be great," he said. "It's a price to pay, but it's for the good."

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"It starts to set a standard. It should show the people who might be Wal-Mart's landlord what their tenant would be open to."

Councilman Steve Leal

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