This week we got some good news and some bad news about the county’s retail scene.

The good news is that the Copelands’ Chinatown development is cleared for takeoff, the plans have been finalized and construction could begin mid-2010.

The bad news is the words “Wal-Mart” and “Atascadero” appeared together in a news story without the word “torpedoed,” which means we’re one step closer to building yet another obnoxious wormhole to Bentonville, Ark.

Not that I totally loathe Wal-Mart. I once bought a very nice umbrella there, and they have another umbrella I’d like to buy too. If all I ever needed were umbrellas, I’d shop at Wal-Mart all the time.

But back to Chinatown.

After more than a decade of finagling, the redevelopment of one of San Luis Obispo’s historic neighborhoods will soon be on its way, replacing surface parking lots with a handsome hotel, retail and residential project.

One of the best features of the plan is that nearly a third of the property will be devoted to public walkways and plazas, offering fluid access from three sides along with plenty of cozy gathering spots.

The hotel is sure to be a big hit, with nothing else remotely like it so close to the downtown core. It’s easy to imagine guests gathering in the open courtyard or meandering out to dine and shop.

The 16 condominiums occupying space over storefronts and providing views of Monterey Street are sure to be in high demand.

All of this will be accomplished without demolishing some of the original buildings near the corner of Monterey and Chorro streets.

All the way around, it appears the project will be a high-class addition to the the city’s picturesque center.

Speaking of high-class additions … on second thought, let’s just speak of plain additions, which is what will be happening someday at the corner of Del Rio and El Camino Real in Atascadero.

I guess the good news out of the latest Wal-Mart update is that the store is getting a trim in size by almost a quarter, down 40,000 square feet from the original behemoth proposed for the site.

This will rob us of the opportunity to pick up our prescription drugs by drive-through, and anyone who thinks that’s a loss needs to get up and go take a walk right now.

We are also losing a tire-and-lube center, which we already have plenty of in town, and some other space for merchandise.

Again, no great loss. More shelves for stale Little Debbie cakes and generic-brand Cheetohs would just be further catering to the same people who didn’t want to get out of their cars to buy their Lipitor.

I know Atascadero is in dire need of sales tax revenues, so I’m not fully opposed to Wal-Mart. And certainly the location on the north end of town is about as out-of-the-way as we could hope … unless you happen to be one of the residents of that area, in which case you should start preparing to give directions to visitors by routing them to “the Wal-Mart exit” as opposed to “the exit with the crappy former outlet mall that would be a near total wasteland if not for Big 5.”

Come to think of it, the Wal-Mart location actually makes a lot of sense when you think of the retail around it. What else are Big Lots and Dollar Tree but mini-Wal-Marts?

I guess as far as high-class additions to the intersection goes, we’ll have to rely on whatever other shops or restaurants come along with Wal-Mart. But I’m not really holding much hope.

Who wants to bet we don’t have an Applebee’s in our future.

Ugh.