Park City, UT. A Wal-Mart Supercenter?

A Wal-Mart Supercenter? Builders hope an expanded store in Snyderville could sell groceries [Park City Park Record]

Tuesday members of the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission were expected to pan a proposal to expand the size of Wal-Mart at Kimball Junction by nearly 60 percent so groceries could be sold at the store.

A new Wal-Mart Supercenter, however, could anger those opposed to any expansion of the retailer.

“All along, the Planning Commission was asking the applicant if they were going to be a super Wal-Mart and add a grocery,” Summit County planner Kimber Gabryszak said. “[Wal-Mart] always said no they weren’t. But then Wal-Mart changed their minds last-minute.”

Last year, developer Troy Herald applied for a permit to expand the size of Wal-Mart in the Snyderville Basin from 71,844 to about 115,758 square-feet.

“Their expansion is staying the same size, but the use is going to change,” Gabryszak said. “They were not asking for a grocery and they were not asking for super Wal-Mart status.”

Converting the business into a grocery store will increase traffic along already congested Landmark Drive, she said.

“What was proposed before was basically just additional retail space for the same items they were selling,” Gabryszak said. “They weren’t going to change what they were offering so their argument was that the traffic impacts would be negligible.”

Any expansion of the store requires landscaping, architecture and lighting upgrades, she explained.

“I know there is some public support for an expansion for a grocery, but I also know that there is a large portion of the community that is opposed to any expansion of Wal-Mart,” Gabryszak said. “That issue is going to bleed over into this issue.”

Expanding the northwest side of the store could make it more visible from the Utah Olympic Park, Interstate 80 and nearby condominiums, Gabryszak said.

Posted by Corey Himrod on Wednesday, October 10, 2007

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