Wal-Mart is coming to town. They’re making a list and checking it twice of all the profitable small businesses in the area that they can destroy.

The new Wal-Mart, set to be located at the intersection of Plumtree Road and Route 924, should not be allowed the opportunity to carry out its plans.

This Wal-Mart is actually an expansion and relocation of the existing Wal-Mart currently located near the exit from Route 24 onto Interstate 95 in Abingdon, Maryland, and people are not pleased.

There are several key issues that have the residents of Bel Air up in arms over this move.

The first is the effect it would have on local businesses. Bel Air is filled with locally owned and operated small businesses that make up the backbone of Bel Air’s middle class community. Stores like Up-Town Cheapskate, the Bel Air Bakery, and Bicycle Connection are all located in the Festival Shopping Center or in downtown Bel Air. Businesses like these would have to compete with the prices and the convenience of the one-stop shop that Wal-Mart has become.

Harford County and Bel Air should not allow a large corporate retailer to come into the town and push around small business owners. The amount of small businesses and how profitable many of them are should be a source of pride for the town, not something that can be nonchalantly cast aside in favor of a corporation that’s the closest thing to a monopoly in this country.

There is also the issue of having a 24-hour super store in the middle of a residential area. Traffic, noise, and crime will all dramatically increase if a Wal-Mart is built on Plumtree.

Traffic on Route 924 has enough issues, with only two lanes and heavy traffic flow at rush hour. It is a residential road, lined with houses, schools, and playgrounds. Wal-Mart shoppers don’t need to make a bad traffic situation worse.

Everything that can be done to impede the Plumtree Wal-Mart becoming a reality should be done. The only people that support it are Wal-Mart executives and their lobbyists. The majority of residents and business owners most certainly don’t want it.

The next time you see “NO WAL-MART” signs lining the roads around Bel Air, stop and think about the real repercussions a new Wal-Mart would have. Support your community and local business, owned by your family members and friends, and keep Wal-Mart out.

Bryan Doherty is an Opinion Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.