By Matt Williams, Staff Writer
Greensboro News & Record
GREENSBORO -- Taxpayers won't be paying $300,000 to the developer of a shopping center for a Wal-Mart Supercenter -- at least for now.
Entrepreneur Don Linder withdrew his request for aid Tuesday night after support for the request on the City Council appeared to dwindle.
Instead, Linder said he would work to find other ways to help redevelop the former Carolina Circle Mall. But he held out the option of seeking incentives in the future.
Mayor Keith Holliday pledged the city's help, short of paying Linder to make the development happen.
"I hope very much to figure out a way that not only your project can go forward, but that we as a city could determine if there are ways we can help," Holliday said.
Linder announced the project last summer. It includes the Wal-Mart, a home-improvement center and several smaller shops.
The abandoned Carolina Circle Mall, which Linder once wanted to make a recreational complex, would be demolished to make way for the stores.
But those plans hit a snag when it was discovered that other landowners were given the rights to use a road that surrounds the Carolina Circle Mall since it was developed in the 1970s. Linder chose to locate the Wal-Mart on top of the road he'll have to close. Linder applied for the incentives claiming that he needed the city's money to help compensate those other property owners for closing the road.
Without the money, Linder said Wal-Mart would abandon its plans and the development would collapse.
Councilman Robbie Perkins said there were other ways the city could help Linder, such as improving publicly owned sewer lines or roads.
A dozen residents spoke on Linder's request, evenly split between supporters and opponents. Northeast Greensboro residents and economic development officials urged the council to take action to bring economic activity to what is now an abandoned shopping mall.
Goldie Wells, chairwoman of the Concerned Citizens of Northeast Greensboro, said that although many might not consider another Wal-Mart a good thing, it is more than welcome in a part of town that lacks major retailers and grocery stores.
"When we think about Wal-Mart, we think about more stores, more jobs and more life and activity in northeast Greensboro," Wells said.
On the other side, resident Yvonne Smothers said she didn't want her taxes to rescue Linder from poor business decisions he may have made.
"I do not feel that the taxpayers should subsidize his profits," Smothers said.
Councilwoman Dianne Bellamy-Small said she wanted the stores to come to the old mall to help alleviate the imbalance in commerce between the predominantly white west and the mostly black east.
"We've got a problem of equity here," she said. "We should not have to drive 20 miles across town to go to a grocery store."
Four council members had stated their opposition publicly to the incentives, and it was clear that others had reservations about the plan. Holliday said he was glad Linder withdrew.
"I thought this was something that we didn't need to divide the community," Holliday said.
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