Community Fights Wal-Mart in Brooklyn, Connecticut

Putnam, Connecticut -- There are many strong feelings flying around in Brooklyn, Connecticu, and surrounding towns involving the proposal for a Wal-Mart on Rt. 6. People are speculating and name-calling and organizing. First Selectman Roger Engle makes it sound like the store is inevitable, but groups like Brooklyn For Sensible Growth, Sprawl Busters and Wal-Mart Watch still hope that the project can be deflected.

People who do not want the superstore in Brooklyn use the number 150,000. This is the square footage of the proposed building. It's a big number, especially when you consider the inevitable electronics and restaurant chains that tend to follow. It is also a big number when you imagine the empty building it will leave behind someday, like empty mills from the industrial era.

People who do want a Wal-Mart in Brooklyn use the number 300,000. This is what the superstore is projected to produce in tax revenue. But, as Brooklyn resident Andrea Malone writes, "the bargain is not a bargain." Taxes will go up in other areas as a result of the store being there. Property and sales taxes can be off-set by other costs, like dealing with increased crime and traffic. Sometimes Big Box stores convince towns that they qualify for tax exemption as well.

Within 25 miles of Brooklyn there are 18 other Wal-Marts. There are already other local stores, which offer higher quality goods, to fulfill the residents' needs. Local business owners are concerned the big store will run them out of business, as it has done in so many other towns. Will we remember Brooklyn Market and Hart's Greenhouse when we can pick up our milk and our plants in the same place? To find a bargain will we remember Ocean State Job Lot, or will we let a very large corporation dictate what we spend on every little thing?

If Wal-Mart's building permit is approved, it will be inevitable. And if it is declined, the fight will not be over. Large corporations will continue to press on, enticing communities with promises of low prices and low-paying jobs. Development and change are inevitable, but if you want to shape the future of your town, it will take effort. The population of Brooklyn is less than 8,000, but that is a big number when they work together.

So what can you do to make your voice heard? The next meeting of the inlands and wetlands committee is December 9th at 6:00 p.m at Brooklyn Middle School. You can email the First Selectman at r.engle@brooklynct.org. You can also write letters to the editor for local papers like the Villager, the Norwich Bulletin, or the Chronicle. Or submit to the Speak Out section of the Reminder.