Ham Lake-1 Wal-Mart-0

I recently moved out of urban Minneapolis to the more rural Ham Lake. I did not take a very active role in my community while I lived in Minneapolis. I attended no block parties, attended zero town hall meetings, and didn’t bring homemade cookies to my neighbors. For various reasons I guess I just wasn’t interested in doing so. Now that I’m in Ham Lake I find myself more interested in what’s going on in my community. I joined the local YMCA, I took the wife and kids to the near-by Andover Street Fest, and even joined a independently owned video store instead of Blockbuster. But what got me interested in Ham Lake’s community was a movie I watched long before I even relocated to the northern suburb.

The documentary was called “Wal-Mart:The High Cost of Low Price”.
WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price I won’t go into much detail about the film except I’ll say it did not paint a favorable picture about Wal-Mart, it’s practices, or it’s CEO. Rent it, or click the link to learn more about this film.

Many of you know that Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer in the U.S. and it’s used to getting its way. In March of 2005 the Ham Lake city council considered a proposal from Wal-Mart to rezone 7 acres of land from residential to commercial. This is near Crosstown Blvd. and Hwy 65, literally 2 miles from where I now live. The City Council unanimously turned down this proposal for rezoning. Ham Lake Mayor Gary Kirkeide said that a 203,000 sq. ft Wal-Mart would be “too intense for that property”. I agree. Trees, country roads, and locally owned and operated businesses surround the property in question. Putting a Wal-Mart there would be like having The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade run through an elementary school parking lot. It just wouldn’t fit and it would change the landscape dramatically.

One reason my wife and I moved to Ham Lake was because it gave us the sense of being out in the country. Although it’s a short drive to Blaine for your Targets and Home Depots it’s still very much like a small town community. The guy that rents me my movies always asks how my kids are, the guy that runs the local auto repair shop checked out my car for free where as other “bigger” shops would have charged me $100.00 just to have it looked at. The folks here in Ham Lake are down to earth and easy going. We like things simple and uncomplicated. Wal-Mart would have compromised, not only the small businesses in the area, but our way of life. Having that land rezoned would have meant the nearby park system would not have been able to be expanded in the future. That’s a good example of what the folks here consider important. It isn’t the big retailers, it’s the parks, it’s the small businesses run by our neighbors, it’s knowing that when the guy at Ham Lake Hardware shakes your hand and says your lawn mower is fixed he means it. And if it isn’t he’ll fix it again without a bunch of red tape and warranty crap.

Some skeptics will say that this kind of sprawl development is inevitable, and that citizen opposition isn’t worth it because the big bully always wins. But in this case, where the community and the public officials understand the simple concept of small town ethics, how to preserve those ethics, and realize they do not have to rezone land for any developer, no matter how big and bad they are, the truth is Wal-Mart was defeated in a very simple manner. For now the playground bully will have to get his lunch money from some other kid.