Wal-Mart decision delayed

CEDAR HILLS — After nearly six hours of discussion Tuesday night, Cedar Hills City Council members voted 4-1 to delay making a preliminary decision on a controversial Wal-Mart that could come to the city.

The final decision to put off the preliminary site plan approval process until another day came at 12:40 a.m., amid a heated exchange between council members and a representative from Phillips Edison and Co., the owner of the property.

"There was a lot of emotion flying around in that room," Councilman Jim Perry said on Wednesday. "I think it was the right thing to (have a discussion about Wal-Mart's application), and I think it was the right thing to cut it off. The last thing we need on an important issue like this is to have people so tired that they're not investing 100 percent of their brainpower into making sure everything is done right."

Tensions in the Tuesday night council meeting rose when Councilman Joel Wright disagreed with Perry and Councilman Eric Richardson, who suggested that the decision be delayed until questions with Wal-Mart's proposal are resolved and more residents can attend the meeting.

"If I were the residents, I would just hang us all," Wright said in the meeting about his frustration that the council did not make a decision. "This is getting ridiculous."

The city's small public safety building was so crowded with residents that people were standing against the walls and in the halls outside the council chambers. Some of the estimated 80 residents who came to the meeting left quickly because they could not hear or see the presentation being given on behalf of Wal-Mart.

After starting at 7 p.m. with a one-hour public hearing, the council talked about Wal-Mart's traffic and noise studies for about 3 1/2 hours. The council then discussed other issues, such as landscaping for a little less than an hour before concluding the discussion shortly before 1 a.m.

"We just feel strongly that open and transparent government and good communication is a good thing, and we could have done more and should have done more to make sure everyone could be accommodated and see the presentation," Perry said. "Could we have been more efficient (in our discussion)? Sure. Could we have been more succinct? Probably. But ... if we had not been able to speak our piece the public would not have been properly served."

Council members said they were concerned with a lack of data in a the noise study that was commissioned by Wal-Mart. Members of the council said they were worried about the noise that could be caused by the almost 132,000-square-foot store, which is slated to go on commercial property at Cedar Hills Drive and 4800 West.