NAPANOCH – Residents opposing the lawsuit filed by Shop-Rite against Walmart for their proposed Napanoch store are heading in droves to Napanoch Valley Wines and James's General Store to sign letters addressed to the Wakefern Food Corporation, the parent company of Shop-Rite.

The form letters ask the corporation to withdraw the lawsuit against Walmart and the Town of Wawarsing Planning Board. The suit, which was filed in May, alleges that due diligence in approving the retailer's site plan was not exercised and seeks to reverse the board's decision to issue a negative declaration of environmental impact. The lawsuit is currently awaiting judgment in county court to decide whether or not it will move forward, and the litigation has more or less halted any forward momentum the project might have had after it had been green-lit by the board earlier this year.

In an effort to show support of Walmart's arrival to the town, resident and local-business owner Bella Volchik wrote up the letter and put them in her wine shop, which sits in the mall complex that would be taken over by the big-box retailer. She also owns a small gift shop in the same complex called Katherine's Korner that she hopes, like her wine shop, would benefit from being located near Walmart.

The letter lays out the position of Walmart's supporters — the chief argument for the retailer's arrival is summed up succinctly when the letter states that the area is "literally dying without jobs."

"People were coming in packs, literally — especially seniors," said Volchik of the enthusiasm generated for the letter. "I had people from Kerhonkson, as far as from Accord."

Having started the campaign about a month ago, Volchik said that she has already collected 450 letters from different residents throughout the town who want to see the lawsuit dropped, and who have pledged to boycott Shop-Rite until it is. The storeowner added that she collects ten more letters from her store and James's General Store each day, and also said that a physical protest could be organized should any decision made by the court be appealed by Shop-Rite, which would then drag the process out even longer.

After she gathers the letters, Volchik mails each letter separately to Wakefern's Edison, New Jersey headquarters. A few weeks into the campaign, she received a call from Sharon Macic, a consumer affairs representative within the company, to discuss the letters.

"She said, 'I cannot say much, but the legal team is preparing a formal response.' She wouldn't expand on that," said Volchik.

"I told her that it was very serious, that people were very angry," she continued. "We would like to meet with them and show them that the tarnished reputation of Shop-Rite locally could be fixed if they worked with the community, and by lowering the prices, there is possible coexistence with other stores."

When asked, Karen Meleta, a spokeswoman speaking on behalf of the Ellenville Shop-Rite, said that as of now there were no plans to drop the litigation, and that there was no perceived impact of the boycott on the store's sales.

"The contention is that there were procedural irregularities in the process that was applied in reviewing the Walmart application," she said by way of explaining the lawsuit's purpose.

"I understand the community's concern," she continued, pointing out that a community group made up of small area-businesses (Wawarsing-Ellenville for Responsible Development, or WERD) was also included as a plaintiff in the lawsuit against Walmart. "So we can appreciate the position of the letter writers, but we have concerns about its impact. We have concern about its impact on jobs. The jobs we offer our associates are good jobs; we provide them with generous benefits. We have a lot of long-term associates with us, so we have concerns about those jobs as well."

Though there's currently no prediction for when the litigation against Walmart and the Town of Wawarsing may get settled, Volchik and the hundreds of other supporters will continue their letter-mailing campaign. Those interested in participating can find the letters at Napanoch Valley Wines and Liquors at 7500 Route 209, Napanoch, and at James's General Store at 46 Main Street, Napanoch.