The following article is taken from the November, 2008 issue of the Main Street Journal. Click “Subscribe Online” above to start your subscription.

Grassroots: How a Handful of Cordova Residents Stopped Wal-Mart
By: Lance Allan

When a battle of any sort is waged between a group of suburban residents and a multibillion dollar corporation whose founder was once the richest man in the world, it would seem the winner would be a foregone conclusion.

And when the opponent is a corporate giant like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the challenge would be daunting for anyone who opposes the company’s plans, let alone a group whose community doesn’t even have true city boundaries.

But don’t tell that to a group of Cordova residents who over the past several months have come together to stand up to Wal-Mart and its plans to build a new Supercenter store at the intersection of Houston Levee and Macon roads. Some area residents were dismayed to discover the retailer was interested in their neck of the woods, an area that just a few years ago comprised empty fields, woods and rolling hills in unincorporated Shelby County. Parts of the area still have a rural feel. The intersection also is within a short drive of two Wal-Mart Supercenters, so residents were surprised when the company’s plans were proposed.

“When I first heard about the Wal-Mart, I was very shocked that such a tiny intersection and such a residential area would ever be selected by site selection professionals for a Supercenter,” said Karen Mills, who, as one of the organizers of Parents and Friends of Macon Hall Elementary, a school near the proposed site, has been on the front lines of the battle against the retailer. “(This) was quite a victory for us. It took our small army of volunteers, but we beat a giant.”

Despite approval of Wal-Mart’s plans during the summer by the Memphis-Shelby County Land Use Control Board, Cordova stakeholders found success in October when the Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted to uphold an appeal of that approval. Parents and Friends of Macon Hall Elementary joined forces with the Grays Creek Association and the Cordova Leadership Council – other neighborhood organizations under the umbrella of Citizens for Sustainable Growth.

“It has been really great to see the people in our unincorporated community come together, organize and help shape our area,” said Megan Cathey, an area resident and active participant in the fight against Wal-Mart.

Organization of the grassroots effort took final shape after the LUCB approved the Wal-Mart plan during the summer. That’s when Brian Stephens, an attorney and Cordova resident, came in to lead the effort. He said he’s thrilled but not surprised at the commitment Cordova residents made to fight the store.

“People are starting to realize if they mobilize and stick together, they can have a choice,” he said. “Instead of being bystanders, they should be participants. The biggest issue will be how do we build a mature, sustainable community. We are a mature suburb. We’re looking to work with the University of Memphis to create a master plan to make sure we can focus on what could happen in 20 years, look at what’s good for us long term.”

In the short term, the opposing groups felt the proposed Wal-Mart site would have a negative effect on their communities. Residents came together to fight the Wal-Mart’s location, not just because they were against a big-box retailer being near their homes. The size of the intersection was a concern, despite the fact other retailers – Kroger, Sonic, McDonald’s and a handful of other small retailers in strip centers – are located there, mostly on the south side of Macon. It was just a handful of years ago that long lines of traffic in all directions at rush hour were relieved somewhat with the installation of a traffic light. Opponents of the Wal-Mart cite traffic congestion they believe would only get worse with the addition of a new 150,000-square-foot retailer.

“The infrastructure simply isn’t in place and cannot handle the traffic that a big-box would bring,” Mills said. “Additionally, the area is highly residential. I cannot think of another Supercenter anywhere in Shelby County where the property line backs up to single-family homes. Also, the elevation on this site is such that Wal-Mart would sit up on a hill and the residents would literally have been looking up at their loading docks during their backyard barbecues.”

Wal-Mart did say it would widen the roads near the proposed store. But that still would have left two-lane roads heading in all directions beyond that point.

The fight has been reminiscent of other cities who have decided for various reasons to protest the addition of Wal-Mart stores to their communities. A group in New York City, for example, has kept Wal-Mart from locating in the borough of Queens. Now, the same group is fighting Wal-Mart’s intention to add two Supercenters on Staten Island.

Communities in other states have waged similar battles.

Cordova, though, is not quite like other communities. The definition of Cordova makes this fight all the more interesting. Cordova was never incorporated as a town; thus, residents in the two Cordova Zip codes live in Memphis or unincorporated Shelby County. Chances are they eventually will live in Memphis.

“It makes it extremely difficult,” Stephens said. “There wasn’t an organization for people to turn to before the Cordova Leadership Council. In Germantown you have aldermen to go to. Memphians have the City Council. In Cordova, it’s not incorporated. It was really difficult.”
But that changed with the formation of the Cordova Leadership Council. It was formed in 2004 as a nonprofit organization to address community concerns. The group has handled a number of issues since its inception.

“One of the things we were real cognizant of is to not just be a one-issue community group,” said Stephens, who took part in the formation of the group. “That’s why we formed the nonprofit, to peruse all issues, not just in Cordova, but in the entire county. If we think it’s an important issue, we try to rally our troops to get behind it. … We send point people to meet with groups.”
And thanks to the group’s organization, a lack of civic identity hasn’t stopped the community from coming together for a common cause.

“I think the sense of community that we have has led to that,” Cathey said. “In many ways, that area feels like a ‘pocket’ of neighborhoods that doesn’t belong to a specific city or government even though we are close to several with Eads, Lakeland, Germantown. We realized that we had to come together since we don’t have a city government overseeing the development in the area. Since we had no government to turn to, we organized ourselves.

“Plus, Cordova has gotten a bad rep in the Memphis metro area for unprecedented and unrestrained growth. I mean, Germantown Parkway is a local punch line. As homeowners and citizens of the area, we know it’s up to us to get control of it and keep Cordova a nice place to live.”

Cordova has at times been compared to Hickory Hill. Once a suburban community of residential developments and a retail core centered on Hickory Ridge Mall, the area that has seen better days is now a part of the city of Memphis. Residents left the area in droves and retail offerings have followed, with a number of large buildings now sitting empty. Today, Hickory Ridge Mall is all but empty, thanks in part to a tornado that damaged the building in February.
But Cordova residents say a comparison of the two communities is unfair.

“I don’t think you can compare Hickory Hill to Cordova because the areas are drastically different,” Mills said. “The perception is really unwarranted. We have leadership in this area fighting for our concerns. And we have the history lessons that Raleigh and Hickory Hill have taught us. As a community, we have the right to stand up and voice our concerns and prevent development that is inappropriate from degrading our core.”

And with the foundation of grassroots organizations now in place, this probably won’t be the last time Cordova residents come together to stand up for their community. But Stephens has a word of caution as to what type of protest is the best, as seen with what worked in the fight against Wal-Mart.

“There really was no surprise, but it took a lot of work to get there. We went down there and tried to turn votes,” he said, referring to his one-on-one meetings with all County Commission members and most Memphis City Council members. “It ain’t the ’60s anymore. We don’t protest. I wasn’t alive during the ’60s to know if that worked, but we lobby for our community. You have to have people behind you, but we’d rather have people get petitions signed and organize instead of standing on the street corner protesting.”