KDRV Staff
 
May 18, 2010
 
MEDFORD, Ore. - The Oregon Supreme Court was in Medford Tuesday to hear a case concerning a proposed plan to build a WalMart Supercenter near the South Medford Interchange.
 
At issue is whether the city of Medford can approve WalMart's application to build the supercenter without a comprehensive traffic study.
 
Attorneys representing WalMart, the city of Medford, and the group 'Medford Citizens for Responsible Development' all gave arguments Tuesday morning.
 
MCRD Attorney Ken Helm argued that Medford residents are entitled to a comprehensive traffic impact study.
 
"They've said they don't want to require WalMart to do one. We think the plain meaning of their development code requires it," said Ken Helm with the Citizens Group.
 
WalMart attorneys argued the city is allowed to interpret and enforce its code as it pleases. They said WalMart works with every city it wants to build in. Some require comprehensive traffic studies, others require limited ones.
 
"Some of them don't require them. So we follow whatever the local city has decided, how its going to choose to govern itself," said Jennifer Spall, WalMart Senior Public Affairs Manager.
 
A decision on the case could take several months. Last year, the Oregon Supreme Court decided on 70-percent of its cases within the first six months of oral argument.
 
If the case goes in favor of WalMart, it could take anywhere from 16 to 18 months to build and open the store.
 
The Medford City Council has approved the application for the superstore a few different times, but MCRD appealed the decision that a traffic study need not be conducted before the city issues building permits. The case went to the Land Use Board of Appeals, then to the Oregon Court of Appeals.
 
Last November, the Oregon Court of Appeals overturned a ruling that would have required WalMart to conduct a traffic study for the proposed supercenter.
 
LUBA ruled in June that the city must require a traffic study before issuing a permit for commercial development, as cited in city code. WalMart would have been required to pay for the study, designed to predict if the South Medford Interchange can handle the increase in traffic caused by the proposed 176,000 square foot supercenter. This came after the city struck down an appeal for a traffic study last year by MCRD.
 
MCRD appealed to LUBA, arguing that Medford's own laws required a traffic study before building can begin, and LUBA agreed.
 
WalMart took the ruling to the Oregon Court of Appeals, who sided with the retailer, saying LUBA should have deferred to the city's interpretation of zoning codes: Medford's codes allow the city to approve new construction.
 
Last year, the Oregon Supreme Court received more than 1,200 requests to review cases. It heard only five percent of those.