WAPO ON THE BIG BOX

Yesterday, editorialists at WaPo critcized Montgomery County (MD) executive Douglas Duncan for proposing a tougher zoning ordinance "for stores larger than 120,000 square feet that devote at least 10 percent of their floor space to groceries." Here's WaPo:

It's not a coincidence that this narrow definition covers huge nonunionized grocery-selling stores such as Wal-Mart's supercenters, SuperTarget and Wegmans, all potential competitors with the unionized Giant and Safeway supermarkets, which fall under the 120,000-square-foot limit. . . .

Concern about the effect of big new stores on surrounding communities is legitimate, but local planning decisions should be based on sound, uniform principles, not on arbitrary criteria targeting specific disfavored companies. . . .If there is concern over Wal-Mart's labor practices, its employees have the right to unionize; if there is concern over stingy health care packages, workers should target that issue directly. County government should not misuse its considerable planning powers to punish certain companies or reward others.

Most zoning decisions can be described as "punish[ing] certain companies or reward[ing] others." It's not clear to me why unionized workers shouldn't attempt to do what business groups do all the time: ask local authorities to pursue policies that are favorable to them.