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Jennifer Renk, Steefel, Levitt & Weiss, attorney representing Wal-Mart, said that at this time, Wal-Mart has no intentions to expand the store to anything close to that of a supercenter. She pointed out that the proposed expansion is small and is for additional storage space so that it might keep the site cleaner. If any additional sales are generated by the expansion of the garden center they will be negligible and would not impact any of the smaller, local stores in Pleasanton. Tony Schuler, a Pleasanton resident, believed Council had no alternative but to grant WaI-Mart's request. It appeared to him that the concerns are specifically related to future expansion and the impacts on competition with current Pleasanton businesses. He asked Council to look at how the consumers and citizens of Pleasanton can benefit from the proposed expansion, as the prices of items at Wal-Mart stores are attractive to the local consumers. He believed that Council should allow Wal-Mart the right to compete. Matt Sullivan, a Pleasanton resident, said he was concerned about the long-term economic and fiscal condition of Pleasanton. WaI-Mart's PUD approval in 1994 was for a general, retail merchandise store. The assumption from a planning pempective is that this would primarily contribute to the City's sales tax revenue and pay for ongoing impacts of development. If Wal-Mart had originally been reviewed as a combined grocery and retail general merchandise store, he believed some consideration would have been given to the fact that grocery sales do not contribute to the sales tax base, and additional conditions of approval could have been enacted to make up for the shortfall in these mitigation resources, otherwise the taxpayers end up paying for the impacts from this development. Contrary to WaI-Mart's statements, he believed the store meets the Contra Costa County definition of a supemtore (at least 90,000-square- feet of which at least five pement) is dedicated to food sales. He contended that Wal- Mart did not meet its existing PUD conditions of approval. Wal-Mart should be required to go through a public hearing process to have its PUD amended for grocery sales. The negative impacts that Wal-Mart and similar retail outlets have on local communities have clearly been substantiated, which include loss market share from local and small businesses, local economic impacts due to substandard pay and benefits to employees, taxpayers subsidizations of Wal-Mart employee health care costs, and impacts to municipal revenues from the systematic shift to a grocery based superstore format. He contended that these impacts are legitimate, tangible impacts to the community. Having a corporation of such size and market power exerting its influence on such a broad scale results in a drain on the local economic vitality. He believed Council needed to understand the impacts of these types of proposals for the community at-large and base its decisions on the community's need for the sustainable future. He concurred with Ms. Hosterman's suggestion for conducting an economic impact analysis study, which should be a part of the General Plan update. Cindy McGovern, a Pleasanton resident, believed in the free enterprise system. She also believed that Pleasanton needs a store like Wal-Mart, which offers young families and people on retired incomes a chance to pumhase products and be able to stay within their income. The community needs to offer a variety of different types of shopping in Pleasanton. She believed it is important to recognize that this is a competitive market and the City's tax base is based on where people shop and what type of services they want. Pleasanton City Council 7 09/07/04 Minutes