Jordan Independent - Protecting a 'potential grocer' from competition (and other happenings in and around Belle Plaine) - Comments

It was sort of a mystifying

Mathias Baden — Fri, 23 May 2008 10:52:08 -0500

It was sort of a mystifying story, actually. That's why I quoted it instead of paraphrasing. The story was definitely intriguing, though, and it raises a lot of questions in my mind, too.

Hypothetically, cities could control the space and locations that are available for certain kinds of businesses through the zoning of land in their comprehensive plans. A lot of forces are at work when a large business comes to town. Businesses like Wal-Mart, for example, could buy land that is outside of the city limits and then exercise influence to get the land annexed to the city. It's difficult for that kind of development to be stopped and thus for competition to be limited.

There ought to be a public hearing before any changes to the city code. I'm assuming that Belle Plaine followed that process, as cities usually do. Unfortunately, my copy of the Herald has disappeared, so I can't answer for certain.

(Mathias Baden is the editor of the Jordan Independent. He can be reached at editor@jordannews.com.)

Was there a public hearing

steinie — Wed, 21 May 2008 10:53:50 -0500

Was there a public hearing held prior to approving the amendment?

As far as the grocery store

Brandon — Wed, 21 May 2008 10:04:54 -0500

As far as the grocery store – what exactly does that mean, and can the city council really do what I think that means?

Protecting a 'potential grocer' from competition (and other happenings in and around Belle Plaine)

Mathias Baden — Tue, 20 May 2008 09:45:00 -0500

Here's what's been going on in and around Belle Plaine lately, according to the Belle Plaine Herald:

- The Belle Plaine City Council unanimously approved an amendment to its city code that "will apparently provide an unidentified potential grocer with protection from future competition if that person does in fact decide to open a grocery store in a proposed retail facility in Belle Plaine," according to a front page story in the May 7 issue of the Herald.