By a vote of 5 to 2, the Decorah City Council has rejected a request from Walmart to be allowed to paint its Decorah store in shades of blue.
Walmart had signed an agreement with the city in 2001 that required the supercenter to be painted in earth tones. Recently Walmart officials asked for a variance in the agreement so they could paint the building in Walmart's traditional colors of blue.
City Council member Kirk Johnson said he saw "no compelling reason to make this change." Fellow city council member Steve Luse agreed that there was no reason to grant the request, while mayor Don Arendt pointed out that he was on the Decorah City Council in 2001 and that Walmart agreed to paint the building in earth tones.
City council member Charles Lore pleaded with his fellow council members to approve the request. "They've been a good neighbor," Lore said of Walmart and he worried that such a rejection would make it harded to attract other national chains to Decorah.