Update 12:53 a.m. Redlands Councilmembers Paul Foster, Jon Harrison, Jerry Bean and Bob Gardner voted to move forward in further negotiations with developers of the proposed Walmart Supercenter late Tuesday Oct. 16.
Mayor Pete Aguilar was the lone councilmember opposed.
"I will not be supporting the project tonight," Aguilar said about one hour before the council voted on the Walmart resolutions at 11:25 p.m.
It took a lot of talk to get to the final vote.
"'Is it Redlands enough? We'll be willing to sit down and work with you," Walmart spokesman Aaron Rios told the council at one point.
"The longer we draw this out the more expensive it gets," Rios said at another juncture.
After the council vote, Rios met with other Walmart representatives outside council chambers and summed up his perspective.
"We're pleased with the approval four to one by the council, as well as the six to one approval by the planning commission, and the seven-oh approval by the planning commission on the EIR," Rios said.
"These projects take time, we've been working on it seven years," Rios said. "We're committed to serving our customers and while we recognize that tonight and the previous hearing as well as the three planning commission hearings may have been more than what folks anticipated, we've stayed the course on behalf of our customers and Redlands residents, and we look forward to getting across the finish line, getting the store built and open."
Update 11:43 p.m. The Redlands City Council voted 4-1 to move forward in further negotiations with developers of a proposed Walmart Supercenter at San Bernardino Avenue and Tennessee Street.
"We are pleased with the council's 4-1 approval," Walmart spokesman Aaron Rios said outside city council chambers about 11:30 p.m. Oct. 16.
Posted 10:13 p.m. A Redlands City Council meeting entered its fifth hour after 10 p.m. Tuesday in Redlands as public comments and the developers shared perspective.
"No matter what happens tonight, you're going to get sued anyway," Councilmember Paul Foster said at 10:05 p.m. "I have tell you I'm not sympathetic to most of the objectors to this project. . . . . That area is going to be developed, ladies and gentlemen. You need to get ready for it."
Foster's words followed public comments by supporters, opponents and the developers of the proposed Walmart Supercenter and Redlands Crossing at San Bernardino Avenue and Tennessee Street.
The council was considering whether to certify a final environmental impact report and a conditional use permit for the 256,614 square foot retail and commercial center anchored by the Walmart Supercenter.
The 32.97-acre project includes fast food retaurants, retail stores, a sit-down restaurant and a flood-control basin.
The group of developers who want to build Redlands Crossing and the Walmart Supercenter requested the City Council reschedule discussion of the project from Sept. 4 to Oct. 2, a city spokesman said last month.
The developers asked for more time to gather additional information requested by the council, Redlands spokesman Carl Baker said.
The applicant seeking city approval for the proposed Redlands Crossing development, which includes plans for the Walmart Supercenter, is Walmart Stores Inc., said Robert Dalquest, assistant director of city's development services department.
To read more about the project, click here.
More than 250 people attended a public hearing at Citrus Valley High School when the project was presented to the City Council on July 18.
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