Community Impact
Examples and Resources
Spenger, Grubb & Associates v. City of Hailey, Idaho, 1995
A developer appealed a decision of the Hailey, Idaho City Council to change its zoning of land owned by Spenger, Grubb from “business” to “limited business”. The litigation was over 12.6 acres of land located well outside the city’s downtown district. In 1990, the city amended its Comprehensive…
Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City, 438 U.S . 104 (1978)
This landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a “takings” claim brought against the City of New York, after the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission refused to allow construction of a 53-story office tower atop Grand Central Terminal. The question presented to the…
What Happened When Wal-Mart Came To Town? (1996)
National Trust For Historic Preservation’s analysis of seven Iowa counties. “Wal-Mart stores, at least in Iowa, create few if any net additions to retail employment…Opening a Wal-Mart results in a redistribution of jobs from other, mostly smaller businesses to Wal-Mart.” From 77% to 100% of…
Wal-Mart and County-Wide Poverty (2004)
This Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology study from Pennsylvania State University, examined the impact of Wal-Mart stores on county-level family poverty, and found “the presence of Wal-Mart unequivocally raised family poverty rates in US counties during the 1990s relative to…
Northeast Ohio Regional Retail Analysis Executive Summary (2000)
Cuyahoga County Planning Commission. “Community tax revenue that is generated by new retail development is often offset by the local government costs of providing additional infrastructure and public safety services, the softening of revenue from existing businesses, and the costs of environmental…
A Review of the Fiscal & Competitive Advantages of Smarter Growth (2004)
Brookings Institute. “Communities should recognize that sprawl contributes to budgetary distress, and that better managing development patterns can play a role in controlling rising costs and framing long-term solutions. “The marginal cost of serving additional population decreases as more residents…
Impact of An Anticipated Wal-Mart On the Northern Neck, VA. (1999)
Tom Muller. “Local merchants would lose a majority of sales to Wal-Mart. The actual
percentages vary from 18% to 60% assuming a 30% recapture rate…the reduction in
property values would be $3.6 million to $4.5 million…Unlike manufacturing, new retail
creates no jobs at the…
Fiscal Impact Analysis of Residential and Nonresidential Land Use Prototypes (2002)
Tischler Associates for Barnstable, MA. This impact study was produced for a town, not for a developer, so it did not have to reach a conclusion that favored any group that paid for it. Shows that big retail projects can lose money for a town. “The big box retail prototype generates an annual deficit…
Economic Information In Deciding A (Big Box) Application (1997)
Napa, CA. Planning Director. This memo finds that the city “has broad discretion to deny a (big box) application based upon “economic” considerations…of whether there is a sufficient market to be served by the proposed new (big box) business, and whether the additional intensity of use proposed...would…
Economic Analysis of A Proposed Wal-Mart Expansion (2005)
California Economic Research Associates finds that a Wal-Mart superstore in Linda, California would cause “significant negative environmental effects…negatively impact other local businesses, and create urban decay and blight conditions…”
