Wal-Mart officials outline plans for proposed super store

POLSON — The property just south of Wal-Mart on Highway 93 could feature a Super Wal-Mart, sprawling more than 156,000 square feet and 27 acres total, according to a preliminary plan outlined Tuesday night, if company representatives can meet zoning standards and numerous other regulations.

The super center would feature a grocery component, a garden center, a tire and lube service area, and a fuel station, all in addition to general merchandise.

Representatives from Colorado Land Consultants, a company that has been building Wal-Marts for about 18 years, were present at the Lake County courthouse Tuesday night to discuss their proposal with the city/county planning board at a pre-application review with the public given the chance to provide some input as well. Rumors have circulated for more than a year about the possibility of the store, but this was the first official confirmation from Wal-Mart officials that they are actively pursuing a super store.

Despite numerous requests from the board for people to only raise questions concerning zoning regulations, community impact was the topic of the evening, and feedback was heated at times, reflecting many residents concerns about Polson's growth and the possibility of an even bigger "box" store near the proposed Cougar Ridge subdivision site.

"More retail in Lake County keeps more money in Lake County," CLC representative Kristin Albers said.

Paul Polzin, an economic specialist and a CLC representative, said that the area loses much of its spending money to Missoula and Kalispell.

"The major retail center in [this part of] Montana is Missoula," he said. "Many people travel to Missoula for its wide variety of shopping" — including grocery shopping.

Ronan Telephone Company president Jay Preston challenged that notion, saying that he doubted that a lot of grocery dollars flowed out of the county.

Greg Hertz, who owns Super One Foods and Ronan Harvest Foods, explained that he did his homework and found that, for a Super Wal-Mart to "satisfy itself," it will need to sell $350,000 to $450,000 in groceries a week. Safeway and Super One combined meet that amount each week, he claimed.

"Which one do you plan to put out of business?" Hertz asked.

The planning board reminded the audience that they are not interested in economics, but zoning regulations only.

"From a zoning and planning standpoint this does not make any sense either," Hertz said.

Hertz provided several examples of how the proposed Super Wal-Mart is contrary to the Polson Development Code.

"On page 34, paragraph one states 'no strip development,'" he said reading from the Polson Development Code. "This project does not meet the requirement of a no-strip development. Page 34 also states that the view of the road shall not be dominated by vehicles, asphalt and signs. This development does not meet that requirement."

Hertz added that super box stores should be in major areas only and not small rural communities and that Wal-Mart is the only business of its kind building these businesses in towns smaller than 10,000 people.

"These stores only become successful after they shut down smaller businesses," he said.

While Hertz was critical of the organization, he did say that Wal-Mart is a contributor to the community in the way that it provides jobs.

As for what will happen to the existing Wal-Mart, Albers said that the corporation will engage with its excess property division to market the building. Wal-Mart manager Dave Tolley said prior to the meeting that Wal-Mart officials would move forward with plans for the building and make those plans public only once the Super Wal-Mart was approved.

Ronan Mayor Kim Aipperspach advised that the legality of the center's water should be checked as a super center such as the one proposed would use up a considerable amount of the city's water.

Tolley said that a Super Wal-Mart doesn't use much more water than a regular Wal-Mart. Tolley also added that he was disheartened to find an e-mail circulating around the county spurring people with an anti-Wal-Mart agenda to attend the meeting to express their disapproval of the proposed super center. Tolley said that he employes over 100 full-time employees with full benefits.

Several Wal-Mart employees spoke favorably of the organization they work for, saying that they are well-paid and treated as family.

Aipperspach then raised the issue of recent intersection changes, saying that the reason for the changes was to deter development like this.

Preston agreed, saying that $10 to $20 million was spent on the intersection to adjust heavy traffic that Wal-Mart is partially responsible for and now Wal-Mart wants to make further traffic concerns with the development of a Super Wal-Mart.

Whether or not the new Wal-Mart will restrict the view of the lake was debated. Albers said that plans show the Super Wal-Mart's foot elevation being 25 feet lower than residential housing east to the area, providing a unobstructed view.

"When standing in their new parking lot facing north, you will no longer see Flathead Lake, but a huge 156,000 square foot building blocking a view of Flathead Lake," Hertz argued.

The planning board agreed to take all these concerns into consideration and asked for CLC reps to create a social and economic impact report in addition to clarifying how the proposal will handle issues like traffic, water usage among others. Watch for notices for a preliminary meeting in the future.