Lockport’s Plan Commission has given a proposed Wal-Mart its stamp of approval with a long list of conditions, including eliminating a gas station, which was part of the package.
The plan is scheduled to go before the City Council March 29, beginning with an annexation agreement for the property at the northeast corner of 163rd Street and Farrell Road.
Commission members recommended approving a zoning change and a special-use permit for the sale of liquor and an automotive center.
Commissioner Bernard Ward voted against the special use because he does not believe liquor should be sold close to nearby Lockport Township High School.
To build the 147,000-square-foot store, with possible expansion to a 203,000-square-foot Super Wal-Mart, commissioners have asked the company to move the automotive center from the south to the north, away from a residential subdivision.
Other requested changes include restricting camping or overnight parking, additional landscaping, restricting the direction of access to the site to avoid cut-through traffic in neighboring subdivisions and restricting hours for use of machinery to clean the site from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Commissioners axed the gas station, and company officials agreed at a series of public meetings to remove a remote pharmacy in the parking lot.
The commission also recommended that the annexation agreement include widening both 163rd Street and Farrell Road and that the company pay 50 percent of the cost of a road for deliveries and truck traffic.
Also, if residents agree, Wal-Mart would build an 8-foot fence near 163rd Street to shield residents in the Westwood subdivision.
Mike Weber, whose home also is adjacent to the site, said Wal-Mart and city officials are considering the wrong location. Weber said that candidates for city offices in next month’s election have told him that 1,700 acres zoned for commercial use could be developed once Interstate Highway 355 is extended through the city.
“It troubles me they can’t find 35 acres to put a Wal-Mart as opposed to where it is at now,” Weber said. He said residents opposed to the project may consider a court challenge objecting to the manner in which some of the public hearings were conducted.
Geri McCoy, a resident who supports the Wal-Mart proposal, said she has found most residents want the store, but added that there is a vocal minority opposing it.
“It’s important to Lockport’s economic development, It’s crucial,” she said, adding it will likely bring other businesses and restaurants to town.
