Tuesday's hearing at the Gardnerville Town Board on Walmart had all the trappings of a classic Carson Valley standoff.
A design review of Walmart was on the agenda, but the debate has been played out many times in many different ways in Carson Valley over the last 40 years.
There are some communities so desperate they'd welcome a Walmart with open arms. A majority of the 50 some people packed into the Gardnerville Town Board meeting on Tuesday would not be among them.
Many opposed the idea of having a large box store in their midst.
In continuing Walmart in September, Gardnerville made the best of a bad situation. Walmart's second try ended up in a deadlock.
There is a chance that if the retailer gives up on Virginia Ranch, it may present its plan to the Washoe Tribe, or to Peri Enterprises, whose land near the intersection of Highway 395 and Pinenut Road is already zoned tourist commercial.
Will a Walmart ruin Carson Valley?
We hope not, because the odds are the retailer will end up with a store somewhere along the Highway 395 corridor south of Gardnerville.
But that doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with testing Walmart's resolve with some resistance. We wouldn't want it any other way.
