Don’t expect to see construction on the Mill Creek Wal-Mart store to begin anytime this summer.
That’s because appeal hearings on the proposed store will continue through the summer. After the latest hearing before the Snohomish County Hearing Examiner on May 31, the process has been delayed through the summer.
The next hearing will not be until Aug. 2. A main reason for the delay was that The McNaughton Group, one of two organizations appealing the store, requested flexibility in locating a road connecting with 39th Avenue SE, a street that would be extended to serve the new store. The street may impact nearby wetlands. McNaughton is a developer building homes south of the proposed Wal-Mart site.
The continuation means a final verdict on whether Lynnwood-based Gramor Development can build the store will be delayed until at least mid-August.
“We will continue to participate in the process and look forward to continuing our work with the city and other agencies on our project in Mill Creek,” Wal-Mart regional spokeswoman Jennifer Holder said. “Our goal at the end of the day is to meet our customers needs, providing what they have asked us for, a more convenient location to shop.”
Meanwhile, Citizens for a Better Mill Creek, which has opposed the store and filed one of the appeals before the Hearing Examiner, considers the delay a success since construction was to begin this summer, said group member Selma Bonham.
Even if the county hearing examiner allows the store to proceed, construction still might not begin. Citizens for a Better Mill Creek are planning to appeal such a ruling in Snohomish County Superior Court, Bonham said.
“Sites can be appealed and sometimes work on permits or other pieces of our projects take a bit longer to complete than we’d hoped,” Holder said. “There are a number of factors in the process, which we fully understand.”
The store is proposed for the site of a former buffalo farm on 132nd Street SE across the street from Archbishop Murphy High School.
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