Galt "bans" big boxes - or do they?

Galt, a small farming community along the Highway 99 corridor between Sacramento and Stockton, has been at the center of a war between proponents of unbridled growth and those who don't want big boxes cluttering up their quiet little town. Yesterday, the city officially approved a ban on certain big box stores of 140,000 square feet or more, which might mislead you into believing the city council wants to stamp out big boxes in general.

This action allows Wal-Mart to continue plans for a 132,000 square foot store, but puts the kibosh on three other planned stores in the area. Some critics say this was the plan all along, and point out the close relationship between Walmart and several city council members; these critics suggest this was a way for Walmart to stifle competition while looking good.

Of course, I don't think Walmart needs to buy off a city council to quash competition; they can put local businesses down by the dozens pretty easily anyway, hiring those now-unemployed folks at 3/4 of their old wages for 39 hours a week so that they don't need to offer health insurance or other benefits. Of course, every penny of the profit is moved out of Galt (along with the shop, the minute it has an unprofitable quarterly report).