FLORIDA SITE FIGHT: WAL-MART INCHING TOWARDS NICEVILLE
Walmart plans inching in Niceville [Northwest Florida Daily News]
NICEVILLE - Valparaiso Realty has been pursuing development of a major shopping center here for much of this decade, and it finally appears to be making serious progress.
Valparaiso Realty hopes to bring Walmart and The Home Depot to a 45-acre site north of John Sims Parkway on the east side of town, with the stores separated by about 400 feet of wetlands. Negotiations still are under way, although no confirmation has been achieved, according to Valparaiso Realty’s office.
This week, Niceville’s City Council unanimously approved a special request regarding the possible Walmart site. It would allow Valparaiso Realty to provide 4.5 parking spaces for every 1,000 square feet of store space instead of 5 spaces per 1,000 square feet.
That would allow for wider sidewalks and better access, according to City Manager Lannie Corbin.
An overall plan for the project also was unanimously approved.
“Basically we’re very pleased with the unanimous decision,” said a spokeswoman for Valparaiso Realty. “We’re still in the process of finalizing the site plan.”
The next step is to secure a building permit for Walmart.
The Home Depot project is not as far along.
Corbin said there was some public concern about how the store and adjoining “out parcels” might affect traffic on John Sims. The site is not far from the Rocky Bayou Bridge.
But plans call for a service road parallel to John Sims that is wider than a normal city street, Corbin said. There also are plans for a sidewalk and bike path that would be part of a 100-foot wide easement between the service road and John Sims.
“That will take a lot of pressure off the traffic situation,” Corbin said.
Niceville, FL. Plans Going Really Nicely For Wal-Mart Supercenter [Battle-Mart Blog]
Posted by Luke West on Thursday, September 11, 2008
