Members and allies of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union demonstrated Tuesday outside the Salinas City Hall Rotunda, protesting the city's handling of the permit process for a new Wal-Mart in Harden Ranch.

The group of about 25 then attended the City Council meeting, where several spoke during the public comment period.

The union offered a variety of objections to Wal-Mart's projected move into the former Home Depot. The city has said the site could open for business within 15 to 18 months.

"You're bringing in a Wal-Mart Supercenter," said Blas Barroso, a UFCWU representative. "I understand we're losing sales tax revenue, but it's not in the grocery industry. You will drive away good-paying jobs to get minimum-wage jobs with no medical benefits."

Wal-Mart intends to devote from 20,000 to 25,000 square feet to groceries in its Harden Ranch and Westridge sites, the city has said. The Westridge store is 139,000 square feet; the Harden Ranch site has 102,000 square feet plus a 28,000- square-foot garden center area.

Barroso questioned whether the city and Wal-Mart had negotiated in good faith. In a June vote, the council rescinded an ordinance banning stores of more than 90,000 square feet from devoting more than 5 percent of retail space to nontaxable items like groceries. It also said the retailer could be subjected to a costly conditional use permit if negotiations on traffic impact and other fees did not go to the city's satisfaction.

"They needed six lanes just to maintain the traffic coming into that Harden Ranch Wal-Mart," Barroso said. "It would have cost over $10 million to upgrade that. Wal-Mart ... said they were willing to give half a million. Who's going to pay the other $9.5 million to upgrade to six lanes?"

City Manager Artie Fields said the council could still consider the conditional use permit.

"Although the council hasn't looked at the CUP option to date, it doesn't preclude them from bringing it back at any point," Fields said. "Staff interpreted [the June vote] as that if we were successful in negotiating with Wal-Mart, that it addressed all the issues the council raised, then the CUP was not something that we needed to deal with immediately. They have addressed all the issues that were raised by the City Council."

Councilwoman Jyl Lutes said she wants to revisit the conditional use permit idea.

"At the beginning of next year I would like it to come back to council," she said.

In other action, Councilman Sergio Sanchez introduced an ordinance that would create a parking permit program for residents of the neighborhoods around Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital. Residents and business representatives packed the chamber. Supporters said permits would keep excess traffic away from their homes, and opponents also spoke out.

A final vote is set for Oct. 20.