Bubblesitter,
I haven’t heard of a high end Walmart, but I can guarantee you that the City of Carlsbad will require them to be high end. The City has complete and total control over what the final product will look like. And they will have enough public pressure that it will look like the Taj Mahal by the time it’s built.
You have to understand something here. The property has been zoned for a shopping center for years. Anyone who bought property near there knew this. Now as long as Wal-mart complies with the Zoning Ordinance and makes it look high end there’s nothing that the City can do. Walmart will sue them silly if they’re denied and they’d have a good case, too. Have you ever heard of property rights?
If anyone had a problem with a Walmart or similar type store going there, they should have complained as soon as the propery was zoned for it.
As far as traffic congestion is concerned, a Walmart will generate the same traffic as any other community shopping center with identical square footage. That’s a poor argument, and once again, it’s zoned for that amount of traffic.
I really don’t understand people’s animosity towards Walmart. But hey, just vote with your money. If you don’t like it, then don’t shop there. If there’s enough of you doing the same thing, the store will close down due to lack of business. But somehow I don’t see that happening.