The City Council unanimously decided Tuesday to reverse last year’s ban on big-box superstores.
If upheld, the ordinance would have gone to a February ballot, which would have cost the city over $500,000. Long Beach is already an estimated $10 million below budget.
The anti-superstore ordinance was passed last year, but a Wal-Mart sponsored organization gathered the necessary signatures needed to put the issue to the February ballot for the public to decide. The council opted to repeal the ban, rather than proceed with the ballot. The issue cannot be introduced again until one year from now.
Recently, Mayor Bob Foster publicly acknowledged that he would have vetoed the ballot had it passed, anyway.
Read here for the Press-Telegram’s coverage.