Welcome to Wal-Mart? In Canfield, not so much

Canfield residents are
waiting to see Wal-Mart’s next move.

By JEANNE STARMACK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

CANFIELD — Wal-Mart will not ask the Mahoning County Planning Commission this month to recommend a zone change for property it wants in the township.

But that doesn’t mean it won’t be asking in the future, said Ron Mosby, the company’s senior manager of public affairs.

Residents, businesses and officials in Canfield city and township continue to wait to see what the company’s next move will be.

With glee, city resident Cindy Makselan contemplated the store’s coming.

“I would love it,” she said, in the parking lot of Giant Eagle on U.S. Route 224. “My girlfriends and I want this.

The area’s built up, anyway, she said — adding she wouldn’t “have to drive to Austintown or Boardman,” which already have Wal-Marts.

Wal-Mart went to the planning commission once already — in October. When the commission was about to vote on a motion to recommend denial of the zone change, the company withdrew its petition.

Representatives then came before the township zoning commission Nov. 1 to present their case for why the land, bounded by Route 224, the Ohio Turnpike and Raccoon Road, is best suited for business rather than the current residential zoning.

The company said it hoped for an indication that the township commission would be willing to amend the county’s land use plan, which designates residential as the best use for the property.

The township zoning commission said the company would have to go back to the planning commission and take its chances with a vote by that board.

Then, the issue would move to the township commission, which would have a public hearing. Township trustees, after hearing recommendations from the county and the township commissions, would have the final say on the zone change request.

To be on the planning commission’s agenda for its Nov. 27 meeting, Wal-Mart had to have a zone change application in by Nov. 14. It did not present one.

Mosby said the company would consider the quality of its application rather than rush one through.

City and township residents are considering what the store would mean for the area. It would be a “supercenter” with a grocery store on nearly 30 acres — 14 of which would require the zone change.

Township and city officials are saying that nearly everyone they talk to is against the store’s coming to Canfield.

“Ninety-five percent or more don’t like the idea,” said Andrew Skrobola, city council president. “It would cause extreme traffic problems and a deterioration of competition.”

Township Trustee Bill Reese, who recently moved to Westford Place off Route 224, said traffic on that road is already a nightmare.

Reese and Trustee Paul Moracco both said they thought Wal-Mart’s presentation to the township zoning board was vague. “It was as poor a presentation as you can get,” Moracco said.

Moracco said “99.9 percent” of the people he met at the polls in the Nov. 6 election told him, unsolicited, that they are against the store’s coming here.

The Vindicator found several people who are against the idea, and others who said they would welcome the store.

“You can’t beat their prices on groceries,” said Diane Zitkovic, a township resident and the manager of the Hallmark card store near the Giant Eagle on Route 224.

Even so, she believes the Austintown and Boardman Wal-Marts are enough for the area.

Wal-Mart sells cards, but Zitkovic doesn’t foresee business falling off at Hallmark because of that. “Customers who come here are looking for things they aren’t going to find in a place like that.”

Up at Hilltop Plaza on Route 224, Darwyn Murray was shopping. “It doesn’t matter to me,” he said. He’s sure he would shop there.

But then, he lives in Berlin Center. So the Wal-Mart wouldn’t affect him like it would the people who live near it, he said.

At Jersey World in the plaza, which like the Hallmark is locally owned, manager Ryan Hartman doesn’t see why Wal-Mart needs a store in Canfield.

Hartman reiterated that Austintown and Boardman already have Wal-Marts. The Austintown store, in fact, is adding on to become a supercenter with a grocery store.

Hartman said he doubted the store would affect business at Jersey World, which carries jerseys from sports teams everywhere. He also agreed that if the Wal-Mart draws more people to the area, the businesses here might find they’re getting spillover customers.

A township resident who doesn’t live near the site where Wal-Mart would build said he wouldn’t go to the store, even for groceries. Frank Magyar says he likes the local IGA and the Giant Eagle.

Leroy Eberly, a city resident, said he would not shop there. Would his wife? “Not if she can help it.”

Eberly said he doesn’t like the way Wal-Mart hurts local businesses.

But at Do-Cut True Value, they didn’t seem worried. The lawn, garden and hardware store is across Raccoon Road near the site where Wal-Mart would build.

Salesman Jered Pekar said the store would have a negative effect on some smaller businesses. “But they [Wal-Mart] don’t have the stuff we carry,” he said. “Customer service is a big thing Wal-Mart doesn’t have.”

Jay Curry, store manager, said Do-Cut has better products with a knowledgeable staff and service support should something go wrong with a lawnmower. He also said that because the store is local, it can react more quickly to the local economy and customer needs than Wal-Mart can.