COLORADO SITE FIGHT: WAL-MART COMING TO WINDSOR

Wal-Mart coming to Windsor [The Coloradoan]
Wal-Mart will build a supercenter in Windsor after all.

Windsor Planning Department staff confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the retail giant has submitted plans to build a 190,000-square-foot big-box store on the northeast corner of 17th and Main streets.

Scott Ballstadt, Windsor senior planner, said a staff meeting will be held at 9 a.m. today to review the newly submitted plans and see if they address concerns the town board raised before it approved development and annexation plans last August for the big-box site on Main Street.

Wal-Mart will build a supercenter in Windsor after all.

Windsor Planning Department staff confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the retail giant has submitted plans to build a 190,000-square-foot big-box store on the northeast corner of 17th and Main streets.

Scott Ballstadt, Windsor senior planner, said a staff meeting will be held at 9 a.m. today to review the newly submitted plans and see if they address concerns the town board raised before it approved development and annexation plans last August for the big-box site on Main Street.

“We’ll try and verify that they have made all the corrections from the last submittal,” Ballstadt said. “I’m not sure if they’re ready for a building permit yet. But if they have addressed everything, oh yeah, it could go fast.”

The plans include a 10,600-square-foot garden center and a grocery store. Plans for a tire and lube center have been dropped.

The retail giant had plans to build in 2004. However, it ran into stiff opposition from a citizens group called Windsor Against Wal-Mart, or WAW. The group pointed out how Wal-Marts often hurt small businesses in the communities they move into.

The Windsor Town Board, after months of hearings and discussions, voted to not change the zoning on the property Wal-Mart wanted, effectively preventing Wal-Mart from coming to Windsor.

However, another citizens group called the Windsor Association for Economic Responsibility, or WAFER, initiated a petition drive to have voters decide if the property should be rezoned for commercial use, thus opening the door for Wal-Mart.

The WAFER drive was successful and voters approved the zoning change.

Despite that, frustrated Wal-Mart officials pulled out of Windsor and zeroed in on Timnath. That project went slowly because of infrastructure problems, primarily sewer.

Rumors of Wal-Mart returning to Windsor began to surface a couple months ago as the Timnath project began to stall.

Wal-Mart and Timnath officials could not be reached late Wednesday for comment.

Windsor Town Manager Kelly Arnold said he saw a benefit of Wal-Mart locating in Windsor.

“Certainly Wal-Mart brings sales tax to the community,” Arnold said. “From a purely budgeting standpoint, it has the opportunity to provide revenue sources. From a revenue perspective, it’s good.”

When asked if he thought Wal-Mart might act like a magnet to attract smaller retail businesses to Windsor, Arnold said there was a good chance of that.

“My experience is that there will be some follow-up and infill of the (Wal-Mart) site plan.”