Wal-Mart plan includes new design

[Note: this story has been modified since its original posting.]

The new Wal-Mart Supercenter at Broadway and Fairview Road should be open by Thanksgiving 2006 and will be unlike any other Wal-Mart in the city.

Ground-breaking on the store will begin in the spring, after a five-year battle that pitted nearby residents against the developers and cast the Columbia City Council in the role of mediator. The council finally signed off on the plans Oct. 17, but its approval came with 20 conditions attached to ensure the developers follow through on their promises.

Neighborhood residents from the very beginning protested plans for the new Wal-Mart. They worried it would be an eyesore and would compound traffic problems in the area, particularly around Smithton Middle School. Many of the conditions the council attached are designed to address their concerns.

Although plans for the Wal-Mart show a red-brick building, extensive landscaping and other amenities, developer Stan Kroenke’s attorney Craig Van Matre said it was not the input of residents that prompted the relatively upscale design.

“I think the neighbors made some serious mistakes thinking they were going to stop the process, and so they didn’t get involved in the plans,” Van Matre said, adding that some of the plan’s features are designed to attract lucrative tenants to the accompanying retail development. “The plans are more upscale because of the input generated by my clients and city staff.”

The conditions attached by the council primary address traffic management, access points and pedestrian mobility. Others, however, are intended to make activity surrounding the store less of a nuisance.

City Planning and Development Director Timothy Teddy said the conditions were the result of input from the developers and residents during public hearings that led to rezoning the property.

“The developers responded to comments that were made and concerns that were made early on in the process,” Teddy said. “I think there was more sensitivity given to the aesthetics of the project. (The conditions) seem to be compromises that respect the neighborhood setting.”

Van Matre agreed, saying the plans differ from the average Wal-Mart because they are developing in an area that is already built up. “It was important to add these additional design features.”

The development will also require substantial construction on Ash Street and Fairview Road before the store opens. Fairview will be realigned to eliminate the existing jog at Worley Street. The project will also require several intersection improvements and new medians. The city will require that the work be done before occupancy permits are issued.

There was little opposition to the plans by the time the council was ready to approve them. Some residents actually praised the developers for working with them in the end.

“Many of the concerns I had have been addressed,” Anthony Barbis of 100 Manor Court told the council.

Meanwhile, site work is already under way for the new Wal-Mart Supercenter to be built along Grindstone Parkway. It will replace the Wal-Mart at Nifong Boulevard and Providence Road and is slated to open in September, Van Matre said.