For five years, Wal-Mart has been battling local residents in Toms River and Manchester, New Jersey.  Not only are they fighting with people in these two Ocean County, New Jersey townships---but they’ve got reptiles against them too.

On December 3, 2006, Sprawl-Busters reported that the northern pine snake had crossed Wal-Mart’s path. The presence of pine snakes delayed Wal-Mart when the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) refused to grant the retailer a Coastal Area Facility Review Act permit because of this endangered reptile on their property. Plans fora 228,000-s.f. super center in Toms River along Route 37 West were stopped by this reptile.

The northern pine snake that hibernates on the 43-acre site held up the Toms River/Manchester super center. The project already had a green light from the planning board in Manchester. The state Department of Environmental Protection denied a Coastal Area Facilities Review Act (CAFRA) permit because a male northern pine snake had spent the winter in a den on the property. “This story is just hard to believe,” said Toms River Mayor Paul Brush, “that one snake is holding up the development of this retail center, that whole Route 37 corridor, and potentially, the Ciba-Geigy site. I’m just so frustrated with the position of the DEP on this.”

Toms River officials were concerned that the northern pine snake was also living on the 1,350-acre Ciba-Geigy Corp. super fund site, which officials view as crucial to the township’s economic well-being. The property owners claim to have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on environmental studies of the Wal-Mart site, including paying $26,000 to have a veterinarian from Rutgers University implant transmitters in two northern pine snakes found on the property in the fall. One of the snakes left the property in the fall and hibernated for the winter in a paint can. But the second snake hibernated on the Wal-Mart site. State officials say there are many snake dens on the property. The New Jersey DEP told the landowner that no form of mitigation would be allowed, and that the CAFRA permit would be denied. The landowner then appealed the DEP’s decision to the Office of Administrative Law, and gathered 7,000 signatures on petitions from residents who want another Wal-Mart.

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