MICHIGAN SITE FIGHT: CHANGES TO WAL-MART PLAN

Wal-Mart changes plans for addition [Tri County (Mich.) Times]

Representatives for Wal-Mart want to be ready in the spring to start construction on a grocery addition.

In April, all but one Fenton Planning Commission member approved the project, and allowing the store to be open 18 hours, from 6 a.m. to midnight. A spokesman for Wal-Mart said at the time that plans included beginning construction this September.

Since the July Planning Commission meeting, representatives for Wal-Mart have made some changes in plans, working with planners for the city of Fenton and Fenton Building and Zoning Administrator Brad Hissong. These changes are above and beyond what city officials asked for, Hissong said.

Changes include:

* Removing approximately 30 parking spaces on the western edge of the site. These parking spaces will be located in the eastern lot.

The western portion of the site is across a fence from a residential area of Fenton Township.

* Wal-Mart’s grocery addition will be downsized and will be further from the store’s western property line.

* The store’s garden center will not be enlarged.

Residents who live near Wal-Mart have raised concerns in past meetings about traffic, safety in the area, and the closeness of the expansion to the Silver Ridge subdivision. They also have discussed possible groundwater pollution and suggested that Wal-Mart have monitoring wells installed.

A consultant for the city of Fenton has said an extended left turn lane on southbound Silver Parkway, changes in traffic signal timing and driveway locations will keep traffic to acceptable levels. Also, according to another consultant, retention basins will minimize the development’s impact on groundwater.

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, August 28, 2007

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