With a special permit in hand, Walmart seems to be well on its way to finally plopping a superstore right in the middle of midtown. But now a group of anti-Walmart activists has filed an appeal claiming the City of Miami should have never approved the permit.
See also: City Approves Walmart's Plans for Midtown, Opponents Pledge to Appeal
"Walmart's plan would spoil a $170 million community investment in midtown Miami," Grant Stern, spokesman for NoWalmartinMidtown.com, said in a statement. "Walmart has made an end run around important local regulations and obtained a flawed approval for their Super Center... We must stand up for rule of law in our community today, or we'll wind up with more architectural disasters like this proposed Walmart littering our landscape."
Walmart's Class 2 Permit was officially approved by Miami Planning Director Francisco J. Garcia on August 12. NoWalmartinMidtown.com has hired attorney Paul Savage to handle an appeal. The group claims Garcia overstepped his boundaries by approving minimally revised plans submitted by Walmart.
The appeal will be heard by the Planning and Zoning Appeals Board.
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