The Morning Report
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The City Council will consider finalizing its ban on Wal-Mart Supercenters and other large-scale grocers in the city limits at its 2 p.m. meeting Monday, six months after it initially approved restricting the giant retailers.
If approved, the law will ban stores that are larger than 90,000 square feet from using more than 10 percent of their floor-area for the sales of groceries. Stores that sell food in bulk, such as Costco, are exempt from the ban.
Council President Scott Peters held off on docketing the final vote on the superstore limits because Wal-Mart had threatened to stage a referendum on the ordinance if it was finalized. A special election, which usually costs between $2 million and $3 million, would have to be called for the referendum if the length of time between the ordinance’s passage and the next regularly scheduled city election were more than a year.
Because voters aren’t going to the ballot box for a city race until June 2008, a special election wouldn’t be necessary if the City Council action takes place in June or after.