Walmart awaits plan review

Having received the blessing from the Orange County Board of Supervisors one month ago, Walmart is now poised for a spring 2012 groundbreaking. Before any dirt can be disturbed, though, the retailer must complete the county's standard round of site and building plan reviews. Walmart's site plans are currently being combed through by the county's planning office, but should be returned to the company by the middle of December.
"The design team has indicated to me that a complete, full site plan has been submitted to the county," said Walmart divisional director Bill Wertz. "Now we're just waiting for the county's comments; the ball is sort of in their court."
Following a public hearing on Walmart's special use permit application held Oct. 27 at the Orange County High School, the board of supervisors unanimously endorsed the retailer's plans to build a 128,000 square foot store on 14 acres of commercially zoned land at the intersection of Routes 3 and 708, Somerset Ridge Road. Compared to Walmart's initially conceived store farther east on Route 3, this plan received little opposition, with the Germanna Foundation and residents of Somerset Farms being the most vocally opposed. Walmart abandoned its original plans in late January of this year amid a lawsuit by the Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield and six individual plaintiffs over the store's proposed proximity to the famous Orange County battlefield.
County attorney Sharon Pandak said that the period to file a lawsuit related to a county decision is 30 days, which expired over the weekend for the approved alternative Walmart site. No lawsuit was filed during those 30 days, meaning Orange County is closer than ever to its future supercenter.
Wertz said it was too early to specify a tentative groundbreaking date, given the time needed for reviews to be completed, but remains optimistic on the previously reported spring 2012 timeframe.
County planner Kevin McMahon said that the planning office received Walmart's plans Nov. 10 and passed them along to the Rapidan Service Authority, VDOT and the Culpeper Soil and Water Conservation District Nov. 14 for their review. The site plans deal with the affected land and access roads associated with the store. Comments on everything from turning lane length and signage to spelling and punctuation will be returned to Walmart by mid-December, after which point the company will make any applicable changes and resubmit the plans to the county.
"It's normal to make corrections," said McMahan. "Just looking over RSA's and VDOT's comments I can see some likely changes."
McMahan said the changes in the review process may appear insignificant, but must be made to ensure an approved plan is as close to perfect as possible.
"It's better to get everything right," he said. "You don't want to sign plans you don't feel completely comfortable about. If we in the planning department catch something in the 11th hour, we've just got to swallow our pride and resubmit comments to Walmart."
After a zoning permit is obtained, Walmart's next step is the county's building department, to which the retailer will submit building plans for review.
While much of the county's focus centers on the approved alternative site, some are waiting to hear Walmart's intentions for the first site near the intersection of Routes 3 and 20. When it abandoned the original site, Walmart fulfilled its commitment to purchase the 51 acre parcel and vowed to protect it. Wertz said, though, that the ultimate means of protection has not been determined.
"Our objective is to make sure that land is not developed," said Wertz. "But we haven't decided, yet, on how to do that."