May 23, 2006
St. Albans, Vermont

There has been testimony presented at Development Review Board hearings concerning the effect of Wal-Mart anchored development near Interstate Exit 20 in the Town of St. Albans. Town official have had few figures on which to base any determination of the police requirement of the project. The following evidence helps to define BigBox Police Requirements.

The Hazel Dell store described in the article, 141,000 square feet, is close to the size of the store originally proposed for St. Albans Town, 144,000 square feet. The St. Albans store turned out to be a store of 179,000 square feet. This is 26.9 percent larger than the Hazen Dell store described in the article. It is reasonable to assume that crime is related to store size.

The Hazen Dell store generated 479 calls for police service in 2005, resulting in 112 arrests, fifty three jailings, and the rest were booked and released for future court appearance. "After factoring in the multiple officers, multiple vehicles, paperword and transportation to jail time required for felonies and other serious calls, the sheriff's office estimates devoting 936 hours last year to law enforcement at the Hazen Dell Wal-Mart." For the size of the St. Albans store, these numbers would be 608 calls, 142 arrests, 67 jailings and 1,188 hours of law enforcement, with the increased size.

The Hazen Dell store was not open 24 hours per day but overnight camping was allowed in the parking lot. "Deputies are responding to calls for service at that location even when Wal-Mart is closed." The St. Albans store will require more than a one-half time deputy, if built.

The Wal-Mart Crime Report here and below on this website estimates that, nationally, the cost per crime call for Wal-Mart stores is $77.50, per call. This will have an annual cost greater than $47,000 for the proposed St. Albans store.

Considering that this and other developers will probably build one to two times as much retail square footage, such as happened in Williston, that total cost will be commensurately larger. The total increase in policing costs could be as high as $100,000 for the development the town is encouraging. The writer will leave it to the reader to decide whether this will include the growth at Interstate Exit 19, as well. The statement, by St. Albans Town Selectmen, that they "would take care of the police services" required is not adequate.

One thing is certain, the more money is saved on improving the roads, the higher will be the cost of police services. This writer had a left turn, rush-hour accident, this winter, at the Intersection of Lakeview Drive and North Main Street. At least three, possibly five, St. Albans City police officers spent an hour at the accident site. The road design from the city line to past the Wal-Mart site should be devoid of cross traffic,left turns. The cost of lane separation and round abouts, which are not proposed, would save much money for repairs and/or insurance. Not included in this analysis are the cost of medical response and emergency personnel.

At the Regional Planning Commission hearing on the St. Albans Town Wal-Mart project, Selectmen Robert Johnson laughed and smiled agreeingly when another board representative teased him about the town plans for a one percent, local option sales tax. Not mentioned about such a tax is that it will apply to telephone, cable, fuel, and all items sold to or by residents of the town.

Always cheap is always expensive, in the long run!