Woodmore Towne Centre expected to get green light

Developer believes traffic concerns were raised because Wegmans is a non-union supermarket

Perez raised questions about whether nearby roads could handle the increased traffic. However, developer Petrie Ross Ventures questioned whether the true target is Wegmans, a non-union employer.

‘‘The appeal is an attempt to slow down the project and has no merit – whatsoever,” Chairman Walt Petrie said in a written statement. ‘‘It appears to be a self-serving effort to try and prevent one of the finest grocery store retailers in the world from coming to Prince George’s County. The people of Prince George’s County deserve better.”

Perez’s union local represents 40,000 workers in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and Washington, D.C.

Wegmans was not mentioned by name in the appeal, and Perez declined to comment on whether the grocer was being targeted because of its non-union stance.

For some, the appeal was not welcome news.

‘‘We fought too long and too hard to raise the bar on the quality of retail in Prince George’s County,” said Arthur Turner, a county Democratic Central Committee member and Kettering activist.

Wegmans’ decision last year to locate in Prince George’s was widely praised by leaders who see its as a way to entice more upscale businesses to the county.

‘‘I am disappointed to learn there is an attempt to slow down if not block Wegmans coming to Prince George’s County,” Turner said. ‘‘I don’t know what that’s all about, but it stinks.”

Perez’s attorney Harry Lerch and Local 400 President James Lowthers did not return repeated requests for comment.

The case is scheduled to be heard by the District Council, which consists of County Council members when they consider land-use matters, at 10 a.m. Sept. 24 in Upper Marlboro.

District Council attorney Steven Gilbert said Perez might not have even beat the deadline to appeal, as he took more than the 30 days allowed to file his response.

Gilbert said the appeal would probably not threaten the project.

‘‘The most likely sequence is we’re going to have an approval on the 24th,” Gilbert said.

County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) is not concerned about the appeal, said spokesman John Erzen.

‘‘Right now I think this is just part of the normal process,” Erzen said. ‘‘When you have a big project coming in, you want to make sure you adequately address the increase in traffic you’re going to see.”

The Petrie Ross Web site listed a projected grand opening in late 2008. But Terry Richardson, executive vice president of development and construction, said in a statement that the grand opening is now scheduled for the spring of 2009, but that the appeal itself did not disrupt the schedule.

‘‘With the hearing scheduled for late September, we don’t expect any delay,” he said, adding that construction should start this year, as anticipated.

Wegmans has consistently been named by Fortune magazine as one of the top companies to work for in the country.

Wegmans spokeswoman Jo Natale said the grocer has faced opposition from unions before.

But, she said, ‘‘We don’t know of a project that has been rejected because of union opposition, nor have we walked away from a project because of union opposition.”

Staff Writer Natalie McGill contributed to this report.