The Ham Lake City Council will meet Monday night to act on the recommendation of the city's Planning Commission to reject a rezoning request for a proposed Wal-Mart store.

The Planning Commission's March 7 discussion and vote drew a standing-room-only crowd. "The vote was unanimous, 5-0, to deny the request to rezone," said City Council member Paul Meunier.

Union members who live in Ham Lake were among the local residents opposed to Wal-Mart who urged the Planning Commission to reject Wal-Mart's rezoning request. Ham Lake resident Gary Gross, political director of the Lakes and Plains Regional Council of Carpenters, said 400 Carpenters union members alone live in Ham Lake. "We had our people out," Gross said.

He added that the Teamsters also have a significant presence in Ham Lake and "their members showed up in force," too.

"I made a point of wearing my union colors and so did a lot of other people." Gross said. But, he emphasized, speaking out about Wal-Mart's behavior as a "global pirate" -- paying low wages, displacing local businesses -- was not the argument that prevailed.

"Here's the whole issue: it was land use. That's how we beat Wal-Mart," said Gross, who two years ago completed 16 years of service as a member of the Ham Lake Planning Commission.

"It wasn't about how we didn't like Wal-Mart," agreed Meunier, who was elected to the Ham Lake City Council last fall with labor support. "It was about how this project doesn't fit our model of growth."

Wal-Mart sought to rezone seven acres now zoned residential to create a 24-acre development site at the intersection of Highway 65 and Crosstown Boulevard. "The whole decision rested on whether the City Council would rezone that seven acres back to commercial land," Meunier said.

"The store was proposed to be 203,000 square feet. It was going to be one of the largest in the five-state area," Meunier said. "The store itself was five acres."

"That type of growth just did not fit our pattern of development," Meunier said. "I described it as trying to put a size 13 foot in a size 9 shoe."

Wal-Mart's proposal spurred the formation of a community group, Citizens for Responsible Development in Ham Lake, Inc., which collected 1,100 signatures protesting the rezoning.

Two days before the Planning Commission vote, citizens opposed to the Wal-Mart proposal turned out in large numbers for a March 7 open house to listen to a Wal-Mart's presentation on the project.

"I think they were caught off-guard" by the opposition, Gross said.

At the open house, Gross said, a woman representing Wal-Mart approached him and tugged on his AFL-CIO cap, saying, "I don't like your cap." Gross said he replied: "That's too bad, get used to it."

While the City Council is expected to uphold the Planning Commission's vote, Wal-Mart opponents plan another show of strength.

The Ham Lake City Council meets Monday at 7 p.m. at Ham Lake City Hall, 15544 Central Ave., N.E.

"Did we stop Wal-Mart? I don't know if we did," council member Meunier said. "It's plausible to say they will come back with a smaller store. If they come back for a smaller store on that 17 acres there's not a lot we can do."

"We won a battle," Gross said. "Wal-Mart doesn't give up."

Steve Share edits the Minneapolis Labor Review, the official publication of the Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council, AFL-CIO. E-mail him at laborreview@mplscluc.com