BLAINE, Minn., — (Dec. 5, 2013) — After nearly two years of rumors and studies, a private developer has submitted plans to the City of Blaine that would bring a new Wal-Mart store to the southeast corner of 35-W and Lexington Avenue.
The land is as a planned business zoning district but has always been a vacant open space. Lori Johnson, planner for the city of Blaine said at this point, the city is reviewing the application and reviewing the numerous studies that have been completed regarding the development over the last year. “Over the past year and a half they’ve done numerous studies including an EAW and a traffic study to determine how feasible the project is and what kind of road improvements are needed in order to accommodate the building,” said Johnson.
The city has already received a great deal of input from the community as this has been a very contentious project for the nearby neighborhood. That input continued this week at a neighborhood open house and next week the Blaine planning commission will hold a public hearing on the project. Johnson said the complaints about the project vary but most surround one key area. “Well I would say mostly it’s about traffic,” she said. “People are concerned that the traffic will greatly increase on Ball Road as that’s the entrance to the development, and they’re concerned that there’ll be a lot of cut through traffic through the neighborhood.”
The traffic concerns are real and as a part of any potential project Ball Road would receive an upgrade that would be paid for by the project developer. “There’ll be some changes made to the intersection at Lexington and Ball Road to widen that intersection to accommodate some of the traffic there,” Johnson said. “A roundabout is proposed at Hupp Street where the entrance to the Wal-Mart will be to keep traffic flowing in a reasonable manner. The road will be widened a little bit and there will be trails added for walkability purposes.”
The initial application not only includes the Wal-Mart but also two additional out lots that could be plotted for future additional retail development at a later date. After the planning commission reviews the project, Johnson explained the city council process. “The City council then will review the items we believe that’ll be at the second meeting in Jan., I believe that meeting is Jan. 16,” said Johnson. “And so at that time, the mayor will decide whether or not the take further public comment and they’ll be asked to either approve or deny the resolutions up for approval that evening.”
From the city’s perspective this is the same as any other development project; they will review the project including the legality of the development against the current zoning and then provide that information to the planning commission and city council to make a final decision about the project. Johnson made the point that the city can only review what is submitted it is up to the property owners to choose the developer that they work with. And, this will not be the last major project as building continues to increase in Blaine.
The public hearing on will be broadcast live on channel 16 in Blaine on Tuesday, Dec.10 at 7 p.m.
Related Links
Wal-Mart Application Documents
City of Blaine
Blaine Citizens for Smart Growth
