MONROE — Walmart on Tuesday is expected to present the City Council with alternatives to its design for a new store to be built in the N. Kelsey Street area.
The company also is expected to address traffic concerns raised during a public hearing two weeks ago.
Representatives of the store and from the Seattle-based real estate developer Sabey Corp., are scheduled to speak at the council meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at 806 W. Main St.
“This is a land use decision and we expect to be treated as any retail store,” Walmart spokeswoman Jennifer Spall said. “We follow rules just like everybody else.”
No public comment will be allowed at the meeting. The council heard from more than two dozen people who spoke about the Walmart proposal at a March 15 meeting and they scheduled this time to hear Walmart’s and Sabey’s responses. Most of those who spoke earlier this month opposed allowing Walmart in the city.
After hearing from Walmart, the council is scheduled to start deliberation and possibly vote on the development agreement. The council has two more meetings to make its decision by an April 15 deadline to approve the agreement.
People at the hearing two weeks ago said the Walmart’s traffic analysis was incomplete, because it did not consider how much traffic would be added to U.S. 2 and other streets or consider the problems caused by the traffic when combined with backups when trains come through town.
Walmart’s 17-page rebuttal, done by Kirkland-based Transpo Group, which did the original analysis, maintains that all the roads in these areas can handle the volume of traffic from the new store.
The analysis also said there is no reliable schedule for when trains pass through town and that the length of the trains are varied and unpredictable.
There are two train crossings in Monroe near the proposed Walmart — one about a third of a mile away and another about a half mile away.
A Department of Transportation project to build a third eastbound lane on U.S. 2 between Highway 522 and Chain Lake Road can help accommodate traffic when a train crosses, the rebuttal says.
Walmart says it will provide a pedestrian pathway to give access to the street and development on the south side of N. Kelsey street as well. The store can also change aspects of its exterior design.
Traffic and the store’s design are the two key issues for the Monroe Preservation Action Committee, which formed to stop Walmart from coming to Monroe.
The group, made up of local businessmen and community members, plan to attend Tuesday night’s meeting but in smaller numbers than in the past because they will not have an opportunity to speak, group president Sam Wirsching said.
“We are not happy with Walmart coming to Monroe, but if it comes paying for traffic mitigation, we would have less objections,” he said.
Walmart will have to pay for traffic mitigation and other fees during the permit application process, a city official said. It is still unclear how much it will pay.
Sabey Corp. paid $7.5 million in Dec. 14 for the site at the north side of the intersection between N. Kelsey Street and Chain Lake Road. The deal was $2 million less than an offer made in 2009, which fell through after the City Council at the time said it would bar Walmart from coming to town.
Alejandro Dominguez: 425-339-3422; adominguez@heraldnet.com.
If you go
Walmart representatives are scheduled to speak about community concerns at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.
The meeting is scheduled at 7 p.m., in the council chambers, 806 W. Main St.
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