Moab puts brakes on Wal-Mart

Big-box retail stores like Wal-Mart are prohibited from building in Moab for the next six months, under an ordinance passed this month by the City Council.

Under the temporary zoning restriction, the erection, construction or reconstruction of any large-scale retail establishment over 40,000 square feet is prohibited within Moab for the next six months. The ordinance also directs city staff to reject any development applications and building permits that fit the same criteria during that time period.

"We had actually been working on this for a while, but when we heard Wal-Mart was looking at Moab, we figured we'd better get on it," said Moab Mayor David Sakrison, who has owned Dave's Corner Market in town for the past 16 years. "We just need to get our ducks in a row and make sure we know the whole gamut of impact that one of those big-box stores has on a community."

The city's planning commission is expected to step in and help formulate an ordinance that will address the council's concerns.

Moab's small-town atmosphere, year-round outdoor recreation choices and unique red-rock vistas draw more than 1 million tourists to the area each year, according to the city's Web site. The largest retail store in Moab now is a 39,000-square-foot grocery store, the mayor said.

"The town is divided on this," Sakrison said. "Moab is a unique community. We're environmentally in tune, and we're sensitive to that. We're also landlocked with federal and state lands around us."

Rumors about the impending move of Wal-Mart into Moab have circulated for more than a year around town. The mayor said the city could receive a development proposal for a large-scale retail establishment such as Wal-Mart within the next six months.

Wal-Mart's corporate media relation's team did not return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday.

Meanwhile, one of the area's largest landholders, the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, said it is not selling land to the national retail outlet.

"We were contacted by a Realtor who claimed to represent a big-box store developer interested in that area, but there has been no negotiation with Wal-Mart," said SITLA representative Dave Hebertson. "I'm not aware of any discussions about Wal-Mart. I don't think we're doing anything with them in Moab."

Andrew Vigil, who works at the Radio Shack in Moab, said he would enjoy having Wal-Mart close by.