FAYETTEVILLE -- The city's third Walmart Neighborhood Market moved one step closer to reality Monday.
Fayetteville planning commissioners unanimously approved plans for a 42,000-square-foot grocery store and 215-space parking lot on 6 acres north of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, between Hill and Government avenues.
Fayetteville Planning Commission
Also on Monday, planning commissioners:
• Denied rezoning 17.4 acres south of Stonebridge Meadows Golf Club where a 258-lot subdivision called Falling Waters was approved in 2005 but was never built.
• Approved two permits in the Timberlake Office Park, northeast of College Avenue and Zion Road.
• Elected Sarah Bunch as chairwoman of the Planning Commission and William Chesser as commission vice chairman for 2015.
• Tabled a city-initiated rezoning of 642 acres in west Fayetteville on both sides of Rupple Road where the street is being extended between Persimmon Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Source: Staff report
Erica Jones, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart, said before Monday's meeting she didn't know when Wal-Mart would break ground on the project. But, she added, the development should take four to six months to build once construction begins.
The land currently features several warehouses, a U-Haul rental business and an auto repair shop -- all of which will be demolished when the market is built. The land is owned by Thad and Burt Hanna.
Dozens of residents opposed the project when the Hannas asked to rezone the land late last year, but there was no public outcry Monday.
Several planning commissioners and City Council members said during the rezoning process they would have preferred a form-based designation over thoroughfare commercial zoning, which typically features a large parking lot between the street and a business. They said a form-based designation would have pulled the building to the street, making a more pedestrian-friendly and aesthetically pleasing development.
Michael Lindsey, Wal-Mart's director of public affairs, said the topography on the site would have made a form-based development more expensive to build. Stephen Giles, land-use counsel for the company, said he wanted drivers to be able to access the market from King Boulevard rather than the more narrow Hill and Government avenues.
The development planning commissioners approved Monday will feature two entrances -- one for customers and one for delivery trucks -- on Government Avenue. Drivers will be restricted to right turns only out of the site onto Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. A fourth driveway will connect the Walmart parking lot to Hill Avenue behind a Farmers Insurance agency.
A traffic study by Peters & Associates engineers of Little Rock anticipated the grocery store will generate 3,649 new vehicle trips per day on average. King Boulevard serves 25,000 cars daily just west of the property, according to 2013 estimates from the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
A center turn lane will be built on Hill Avenue. New sidewalks are required on the north side of King Boulevard, west side of Government Avenue and both sides of Hill Avenue.
A sidewalk will connect to the Frisco Trail, just east of the property. The trail crossing at Prairie Street will be raised to make it more visible. And Wal-Mart representatives have committed to installing a bus stop and bicycle repair station on Government Avenue. Street trees will also be part of the development.
Like other Neighborhood Markets, the grocery store will offer a bakery, produce area, dairy section, deli, dry goods aisles and a full-service pharmacy.
It will not include a gas station as Wal-Mart representatives previously envisioned.
Although the development cleared the Planning Commission unanimously Monday, multiple commissioners gave it their begrudging support.
"I feel like this has turned what could be an interesting urban experience into a typical parking lot addressing the street," said Commissioner William Chesser. "But I'm not sure there's anything we can do at this point."
City Attorney Kit Williams said the commission has limited grounds for rejecting large-scale developments.
"The discretion is basically during the rezoning," Williams said. "Once it's zoned, as long as they're meeting the standards of the development ordinance ... then it must be approved at this stage of the game."
Fayetteville's other Neighborhood Markets are in the Forest Hills development off of Wedington Drive and in the Kantz Center shopping center near Mission Boulevard and Crossover Road.
NW News on 04/14/2015