[SmileyBoy]

Wal-Mart finally got the go-ahead to build a Supercenter on the northeast corner of 52nd Avenue South and I-29. A SuperTarget will also be built on the southwest corner.

City staff advise Wal-Mart approval
By Mike Nowatzki, The Forum
Published Saturday, April 08, 2006

Fargo planning staff have recommended the Planning Commission approve a plan that would allow for a Wal-Mart supercenter northeast of Interstate 29 and 52nd Avenue South.

Fred and Earlyne Hector have asked the city to amend its growth plan to increase the amount of commercial property in their parcel from 10 acres to 50 acres.

The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the request at 9 a.m. Wednesday at City Hall.

Due to strong neighborhood opposition to the proposed Wal-Mart supercenter, city planners prepared three land-use options for the Planning Commission to consider.

City Planning Director Jim Gilmour said the option being recommended by staff would increase the commercial area to roughly 45 acres – more than enough for a Wal-Mart supercenter.

“We looked at the evaluation factors and felt that it was an acceptable request,” he said.

Gilmour said city staff listened closely to residents’ concerns, but a traffic study didn’t show the cut-through traffic that residents feared. Existing residential areas to the east and north would be about a quarter-mile from the supercenter, he said.

Wal-Mart has agreed to follow design standards and to position the store so that the loading dock – which some residents complained would be too noisy and brightly lit – faces I-29 to the west, Gilmour said.

The recommended option also includes a green buffer space between the commercial and residential areas, and some office space would be replaced by green space.

The connection of 32nd Street to 52nd Avenue would meander to limit cut-through traffic, and a roundabout on 32nd Street would slow traffic.

Jay Manley, who lives on 46th Avenue South just north of the Hector land, said no option that puts Wal-Mart northeast of I-29 and 52nd Avenue is acceptable.

Wal-Mart would be landlocked between residential areas, and it makes more sense for the retailer to locate directly across I-29 on land also owned by the Hectors, Manley said.

“It’s not the right area for that kind of store,” he said.

The public hearing has been continued twice since October at the Hectors’ request.

Gilmour said he spoke to the Hectors’ attorney Friday and was told they don’t plan to seek a third continuance.

Under the Planning Department’s bylaws, landowners requesting a land-use change may be granted a maximum of three continuances, said Senior Planner Jim Hinderaker.