#KeepMurvilQuaint
May 28, 2015 9:46 AM   Subscribe

In this script, a 189,000-square-foot big-box store plays the role of “progress” and an old-fashioned, last-of-its-breed drive-in in plays the part of “nostalgia.” Their conflict, like many in the movies, is perfectly framed to represent something greater: the struggle for the identity of a small town. What, in fact, does Maryville, TN want to be? How does "the peaceful side of the Smokies" grow while maintaining that identity — and connecting thousands of tourists to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park?
posted by SkylitDrawl (32 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
It seems like this could be solvable. The drive-in is already having light pollution issues; would it be impossible to get a loan to move it to another, darker location away from town/the Walmart? Or else to construct some kind of barriers that would help block light/noise (which would concern me more; Walmart parking lots are noisy).

However, the bullshit where the plans "were discussed" but nobody ever said the word "Walmart" aloud till it was a done deal...that's not serving your citizens correctly.
posted by emjaybee at 9:58 AM on May 28, 2015


However, the bullshit where the plans "were discussed" but nobody ever said the word "Walmart" aloud till it was a done deal...that's not serving your citizens correctly.

Probably because they knew better than to trust their citizens to see anything more than a brand name.
posted by sideshow at 10:20 AM on May 28, 2015


sideshow, can you please elaborate?
posted by SkylitDrawl at 10:23 AM on May 28, 2015


Holy cats I live in Maryville! This is a huge community issue, and it has tentacles all over the place. In addition to the Wal-Mart Drive In Fiasco, Blount County recently approved a zoning variance that is allowing construction of a Dollar General where a Dollar General shouldn't be and nobody in the neighborhood (a term I use loosely - it's a rural area) wants.

emjaybee: there's really nowhere to move the drive-in to. There is simply not much level land in this county; something like 2/3 of our county is actually located in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
posted by workerant at 10:27 AM on May 28, 2015 [11 favorites]


Oh my God. There are two of us in Maryville. Best news all day.
posted by SkylitDrawl at 10:28 AM on May 28, 2015 [9 favorites]


OMG WE MUST MEET FOR A BEER RIGHT NOW
posted by workerant at 10:29 AM on May 28, 2015 [15 favorites]


Honestly, I thought this was a great piece that goes beyond just being about Maryville. I think it is about small towns, development, and zoning in general.
posted by SkylitDrawl at 10:31 AM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]




Thanks for the explanation workerant. Do you think it would be possible to make enough accomodations for the two business to be next to each other (though of course Walmart will make a fuss about it)?

(Ya'll enjoy your Maryville Mini Mefi Meetup)
posted by emjaybee at 10:43 AM on May 28, 2015


sideshow, can you please elaborate?

The city could lay out a plan that describes a retailer with 100% of every facet of Walmart's operation. How many customers, the types of products, how much traffic, the effects the retailer would have on local businesses, the political leanings of the executive team, etc. etc., and people might actually think about it and make a rational decision about it.

But, if the plan says "Walmart", that is all most people need to read. Fuck the actual facts.

I lived in Boulder when a "Neighborhood Walmart" moved in. That city approved it because the application had everything on it, except what name would be on the sign. When that came out, everyone lost their shit. A deputy mayor publicly called for the people of Boulder to boycott it. Walmart was bad for the brand of Boulder, the actual store and it's actual affect on anything was very secondary.
posted by sideshow at 10:44 AM on May 28, 2015


Please post pictures of the smallest Mefi Meetup possible.
posted by mmascolino at 10:45 AM on May 28, 2015 [10 favorites]


BTW, I not saying that the good leaders of Maryville actually had transparent process where everything was laid out besides the name of the store itself. I'm just saying that leaving the name out might make people think about the actual impact of a store, verses "what will my friends think when they find out I live in a town with a Walmart".
posted by sideshow at 10:47 AM on May 28, 2015


sideshow: there are already two Wal-Marts within, uh, maybe five miles? of the proposed new one, so it's not a "What will my friends think!?" thing. Resistance might have been less to a different big-box facility if it brought new options to the community. Resistance might also have been less to another retailer who treats their employees better than Wal-Mart does.

There are a lot of reasons to oppose Wal-Mart specifically; the physical footprints of their facilities is only one reason.
posted by workerant at 10:49 AM on May 28, 2015 [2 favorites]


Please, won't somebody think of the Wal-Mart?
posted by anazgnos at 10:53 AM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


Seems like the proper solution would be to put the drive-in *on top* of the WalMart. 2 birds, 1 stone.
posted by blue_beetle at 10:53 AM on May 28, 2015 [2 favorites]


if the plan says "Walmart", that is all most people need to read. Fuck the actual facts.

It's getting to where a transnational big box retail conglomerate just can't get a fair shake against these slick small-town snobs.
posted by anazgnos at 11:00 AM on May 28, 2015 [9 favorites]


But, if the plan says "Walmart", that is all most people need to read. Fuck the actual facts.

I mean, if people in the community don't want it, people in the community don't want it. "This is a Wal*Mart" is one of the "actual facts" to which people are allowed to object.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 11:07 AM on May 28, 2015 [11 favorites]


The city could lay out a plan that describes a retailer with 100% of every facet of Walmart's operation. How many customers, the types of products, how much traffic, the effects the retailer would have on local businesses, the political leanings of the executive team, etc. etc., and people might actually think about it and make a rational decision about it.

Would such a plan also include data about the abuses of employees for which Wal*Mart has been exposed? Something tells me that such a plan would not. And that is absolutely the kind of data which I, as a consumer and resident of a town, would like to know.

Fortunately, the press has provided me with that particular set of "actual facts" about Wal*Mart that the company itself would not be disclosing. so it's more like "fuck the gussied-up business plan".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:11 AM on May 28, 2015 [3 favorites]


Those of you in fights like this might find useful resources at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. One of the founders, Stacy Mitchell, wrote the book Big Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses (recommended).. The group has an email newsletter, fact sheets, and other information useful to organizers.

The city could lay out a plan that describes a retailer with 100% of every facet of Walmart's operation. How many customers, the types of products, how much traffic, the effects the retailer would have on local businesses, the political leanings of the executive team, etc. etc., and people might actually think about it and make a rational decision about it.

And maybe the community would conclude that no business of that scale, sourcing, management structure and design philosophy, no matter the name, belongs in their town.
posted by Miko at 11:52 AM on May 28, 2015


"This is a Wal*Mart" is one of the "actual facts" to which people are allowed to object.

Actually, that is a tricky point. I'm not fully versed in all nuances of land use law, but I'm not aware of any time that a municipality has banned a company (Walmart) instead of a land use (cell towers, fracking sites). Your community can say "no big box stores," not "big boxes are OK, just not that brand."

Walmart used to require some ridiculous Big Box Only plan, effectively allowing cities and counties to keep out Walmart by saying "nothing bigger than X." But if you don't want a Walmart Neighborhood Market because it's a part of the blight that is Walmart, you're in a tough situation. Those "neighborhood markets" are scaled down, to be more community scale instead of highway scale, like other Big Box Stores. If they want to move into a vacant building where a grocery store is allowed and they aren't likely to generate more traffic than the building, parking lot and access points were meant to handle, there's little a community can do to keep out the "neighborhood market."

The city could lay out a plan that describes a retailer with 100% of every facet of Walmart's operation. How many customers, the types of products, how much traffic, the effects the retailer would have on local businesses, the political leanings of the executive team, etc. etc., and people might actually think about it and make a rational decision about it.
And maybe the community would conclude that no business of that scale, sourcing, management structure and design philosophy, no matter the name, belongs in their town.


- Emphasis mine -

City planning, which is generally what regulates land use and development patterns, focuses on two main things: Use and Scale. You can control the use of land to keep industrial uses away from residences, and you can control the scale of development to maintain proper traffic flow and some structural aesthetics. Once you get into types of products, management structure, and political leanings of management, you're beyond land use planning and into the realms of (retail) politics.

So if you allow a big box store like Target, Kohls or Sears to develop a store and they go under, Walmart could come in and bring its brand of government-subsidized low prices into that shell, and they can show they won't cause traffic jams at the driveways, there's not much a community can do to keep them out of re-occupying that existing space, except by not shopping there. Until their labor practices are found to be illegal, municipalities are limited in what they can do to corporate robber-barons who work within the confines of the laws.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:03 PM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


But, if the plan says "Walmart", that is all most people need to read. Fuck the actual facts.

Wait. What? People know a hell of a lot about Wal Mart that justifies citizens in knowing when Wal Mart is trying to move into their town, and indeed, justifies them in blocking it if they see fit.

You think Wal Mart's abysmal record as a corporate citizen shouldnt be allowed to be considered by residents of communities where it wants to locate?

Wow.
posted by jayder at 12:04 PM on May 28, 2015 [2 favorites]


Wait, they're putting a Dollar General on the Nowhere section of Montvale Road? Nightmare.
posted by SkylitDrawl at 12:10 PM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


I get a lot of that, filthy light thief, but the link I gave actually talks about how to craft local policies - on zoning and use, yes, but also on traffic, labor, signage, easements, water use, electric power, and so on - to make it very difficult for this type of retailer to go in.

Yes, if you already have this type of big box retail building, you're probably screwed if Wal-Mart wants to reuse one of those buildings (though that does not happen to be their preference). But you don't need to allow your city to make the additional concessions they will ask for. And maybe what people really want is not to have any of these kinds of stores at all, in which case, as a citizen, you can get busy changing your zoning.
posted by Miko at 12:22 PM on May 28, 2015


Most relevant link: How to Stop a Big Box
posted by Miko at 12:25 PM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


We actually have a lot of empty buildings all over downtown and the surrounding area that could house a Wal-Mart. Why they want to build one practically on top of the drive-in is beyond us!
posted by SkylitDrawl at 12:25 PM on May 28, 2015


Not for nothing, but a google for "shooting at walmart" has lots and lots of autocomplete choices*.

My wife finally stopped shopping there. The guy ahead of her in line a couple weeks ago dropped his handgun. Twice. The second time, my wife just left the cart and walked out.

my favorite
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 12:46 PM on May 28, 2015


there's really nowhere to move the drive-in to.

You've got a river nearby, don't you? BARGE-IN
posted by Sys Rq at 12:47 PM on May 28, 2015


Sys Rq: Let me introduce you to the Volunteer Navy. This is what the Tennessee River looks like in downtown Knoxville during UT home football games. Boats of all sizes raft together for about a mile near the stadium.

Unfortunately, the Little Tennessee River is a couple of miles from Maryville, and there's not much level land (for screens) there either.
posted by workerant at 1:22 PM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


BARGE-IN

God, that is such a cool idea. Summer Movies. ON A BARGE.
posted by Miko at 7:23 PM on May 28, 2015


Meanwhile I'm up here in Knoxville. Is that too Big City for the Mini Metafilter Maryville Meetup? :)
posted by TheCowGod at 7:50 PM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]


Once you get into types of products, management structure, and political leanings of management, you're beyond land use planning and into the realms of (retail) politics.

There are a lot of ways to legally hinder (or outright ban) specific things using land use planning tools. Sit in on some meetings discussing proposals for halfway houses or strip clubs to get a taste of how these things elicit strong reactions, and watch the zoning decisions after.

And maybe what people really want is not to have any of these kinds of stores at all, in which case, as a citizen, you can get busy changing your zoning.

I'm no Walmart fan, but if you are suggesting that there is some kind of national consensus against big box retail, I'd suggest rethinking. In places where that consensus does exist (though sadly often containing a strong blend of classism), you are correct that current zoning law provides a lot of tools, though with complex tradeoffs in many cases.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:00 PM on May 28, 2015 [2 favorites]


I'm not suggesting there's a national consensus, but fortunately, these are not national decisions. They're municipality-based, and municipal tools can be deployed. I don't feel a need to keep arguing; my links make a good portal, and as much as there is to say about restructuring local economy and opposing this stuff is pretty much there in that content. I don't mean to imply it's easy or without tradeoff. But it's probably worth it in the long run.
posted by Miko at 9:03 PM on May 28, 2015


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