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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Apr 1, 2003

Missouri Coalitions Works to End Big Box Subsidies

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/missouri-coalitions-works-end-big-box-subsidies/

In Missouri, a coalition of independent businesses and union members are backing a bill that would reform the state’s tax increment financing (TIF) law and put an end to subsidies for suburban big box stores, shopping malls, and other sprawling developments.

TIF allows a municipality to issue bonds to pay for part of the costs of a new development. Future tax revenue from the development is then diverted from the public coffers to pay off the bonds.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by admin | 1 Comment | Updated on Apr 1, 2003

Cincinnati Planning Department Abolished at Behest of Big Box Developer

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/cincinnati-planning-department-abolished-behest-big-box-developer/

In an effort to reduce a budget deficit and make the city more "developer friendly," in the words of Mayor Charles Luken, Cincinnati has abolished its planning department.

Eight staff members and the remnants of the city’s planning activities have been transferred to the community development department. The department will carry out state-mandated functions, such as zoning and historic preservation. Planning will largely be subordinate to economic development.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Apr 1, 2003

Iowa Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Activists, Against Wal-Mart

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/iowa-supreme-court-rules-favor-activists-against-walmart/

Years of fighting a Wal-Mart supercenter slated for a flood plain in a rural area of Decorah, Iowa, have finally paid off for a tenacious group of residents and small business owners.

On April 2, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the Decorah City Council acted illegally when it approved a Wal-Mart supercenter in the Upper Iowa River flood plain.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Apr 1, 2003

Shenandoah Valley Residents Fight Big Box Development

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/shenandoah-valley-residents-fight-big-box-development/

Citizens in Front Royal, Virginia, a town of 13,000 in the Shenandoah Valley, are organizing to block a 184,000-square-foot Wal-Mart superstore. The development is slated for 121-acre tract of flood plain land bordering the south fork of the Shenandoah River. In order to proceed, Wal-Mart must convince the town to re-zone the land from residential to commercial.

Residents have organized under the banner "Save Our Gateway" to fight the project.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by Stacy Mitchell | No Comments | Updated on Apr 1, 2003

Independent Business Alliances Forms in Santa Fe

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/independent-business-alliances-forms-santa-fe/

Local businesses, nonprofit organization, and residents are uniting in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to bolster the local economy and build a more self-reliant community.

The Santa Fe Independent Business Community Alliance (SFIBCA) formed in December and has already attracted more than 370 members. About 60 percent of the members are independent businesses supplying a broad range of goods and services: bookstores, pharmacies, banks, radio stations, auto repair shops, accountants, printers, builders, beauty salons, and physicians.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Apr 1, 2003

Coalitions Key to Survival of Independent Music Stores

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/coalitions-key-survival-independent-music-stores/

Album sales dropped more than 11 percent last year. Forecasts predict they will dive another 6 percent this year. The internet is partly to blame; the record industry says 2.6 billion music files are downloaded from the internet each month, many of which are burned to CDs. Music is also facing competition from other forms of entertainment, especially among teenagers, who are spending more money on DVDs and electronic games.

Radio consolidation hasn’t helped either.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Feb 1, 2003

Wal-Mart’s Purchase of Puerto Rico Chain Challenged

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/walmarts-purchase-puerto-rico-chain-challenged/

Puerto Rico’s Department of Justice has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to block Wal-Mart’s acquisition of the island’s largest grocery store chain, Supermercados Amigo Inc. The outcome of the case could affect the ability of states to review and challenge mergers.

Wal-Mart already operates 19 outlets in Puerto Rico, including eight Sam’s Club stores and one supercenter.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Feb 1, 2003

Historic Georgia Community Fights Wal-Mart

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/historic-georgia-community-fights-walmart/

Two churches and a long-time resident of the historic Sandfly community near Savannah, Georgia, have sued city and county officials to block a proposed Wal-Mart supercenter. The lawsuit claims the officials violated planning and zoning laws in approving the development.

Settled by slaves in the 1700s, Sandfly is one of the nation’s oldest African-American communities. Until recently, most homes is this tight-knit village were built by residents themselves with everyone in the community pitching in to help.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Feb 1, 2003

Local Stores Create Triple the Economic Activity of Chains

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/local-stores-create-triple-economic-activity-chains/

When you spend $100 at the chain Borders Books & Music, your purchase creates only $13 worth of local economic activity. That same $100 spent at locally owned book or record store generates $45, or more than three times as much local economic activity.

That’s the conclusion of a new study conducted by Civic Economics and published by Livable City in Austin, Texas.

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Article filed under Independent Business | Written by admin | No Comments | Updated on Feb 1, 2003

Midcoast Maine Residents Oppose Coastal Home Depot

The content that follows was originally published on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance website at http://www.ilsr.org/midcoast-maine-residents-oppose-coastal-home-depot/

Residents of the midcoast region of Maine are petitioning the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the US Coast Guard to deny permits to a planned Home Depot store in the town of Rockland.

The 100,000-square-foot store is slated for a 24-acre site along the coast near Route 1. The project was approved by the Rockland Planning Commission in October. It still needs permits from the DEP, which is accepting public comment through February and is expected to issue a decision in March.

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