Wal-Mart foes miss another deadline

For the second time, a local group’s legal challenge of Wal-Mart’s planned expansion into a 24-hour Supercenter could be thrown out because of a missed deadline.

The expansion would almost double the size of the current store on Washington Boulevard to include groceries and more merchandise.

The Crescent Heritage Coali­tion  filed a lawsuit last year against Del Norte County and Wal-Mart over concerns about the environmental and economic impacts of the expansion.

Del Norte County Superior Court Judge William Follett recently ruled in favor of the county and Wal-Mart.

The group’s lawyer, Brett Jolley of Herum and Crabtree Attorneys in Stockton, filed a notice of appeal on Nov. 10 — no reasons were included. The coalition’s previous attorney had missed an earlier deadline.

An appeal must be filed within 60 days of notification of a judge’s ruling.

County Counsel Dohn Hen­ion said that he and Wal-Mart’s attorney will file a motion to dismiss the appeal with the state Court of Appeals.

Henion said he wasn’t sure how long it would take for a ruling.

Crescent Heritage Coal­i­tion’s attorney could not be reached for comment. 

In the meantime, all of the documents and transcripts involved in the case, a total of 1,743 pages, will have to be assembled.

“There’s a good chance the court will give it priority and rule quickly to prevent the entire preparation of the record,” Henion said about the expensive process.

This isn’t the first time the case against Wal-Mart’s expansion has been imperiled by a missed deadline.

Last summer, the County Planning Commission approved an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the expansion. This decision was appealed to the Board of Supervisors, who upheld the approval.

The Crescent Heritage Coalition followed up with a lawsuit claiming the environmental document didn’t fully explore potential impacts to the environment and local economy.

Follett dismissed part of the case based on the California Environmental Quality Act in May because the group’s attorney at that time missed a deadline to request a hearing.

The other part of the suit, which claimed that the Board of Supervisors violated the county’s General Plan by approving the expansion project.

In June, Follett heard arguments about whether the county Community Development Department sufficiently consulted with the Department of Fish and Game about the project for the EIR.

In his ruling, Follett stated that county staff did so, as is required in the General Plan.