With the Suburban Plaza Walmart quickly taking form at Suburban Plaza, you may be wondering when it’s going to open and what it will ultimately look like.

Well, the Medlock Area Neighborhood Association is here to help.  They have posted the above rendering looking at the project from Scott Boulevard/N. Decatur Road/Medlock and a list of facts about the coming Suburban Plaza Walmart on its site.

• The store is projected to open in November 2015. 
• Walmart reserves the right to open 24 hours/day but the current plan is to open 6am – midnight. 
• 150,000 sq ft super center that will offer merchandise and groceries.
• The store will not have an optical center or a tire/lube center
• The store will not carry guns but will carry ammunition
• the store will include a small garden center with some outdoor and seasonal merchandise
• the store will employ 300 people. Hiring for this store is now in progress (scroll to end of this post)*
• trucks servicing Walmart will enter from North Decatur Rd. at the new traffic signal, proceed to the back of the building and on to the loading docks there. The trucks can back directly into the loading docks. Trucks will exit onto Medlock Road, and proceed to Scott Blvd. We should expect 3-5 trucks per day
• improving the intersection and the light timing (for Medlock Rd.) are part of every discussion

Scott is brief and to the point, but reports that the DeKalb Zoning Board of Appeals passed the parking variance for the Walmart redevelopment of Suburban Plaza.  To quote Scott…

Variance passes.

Now, if you only really care about the end result, you should be good to go.  Feel free to stick around, buy a t-shirt or see what kind of weird links are in the Morning Metro section today.  But if you really want to get down into the weeds, Patch has a live blog of the event. Sounds like things got a little heated.

Decatur-wise, Patch reported that Decatur Heights ultimately took a neutral stance of the variance.

It also sounds like some of you all were there.  If you were, please let us know us all about the beautiful democracy in action.

Rendering Photo courtesy of MANA

The gauntlet has been thrown!

In an article in The Champion newspaper this week County Commissioner Jeff Rader says that in order for Walmart to receive the parking variance it has requested to build fewer spaces than is required under the current code, they will need to “have to show how their project will adapt and change people’s travel behaviors.”

OK, so this is obviously isn’t a really much of a gauntlet.  It’s a purposely vague statement, as one should expect from a public official expected to weigh the pros and cons of any development for a community.  But it sure would be interesting to think about what it would take to change the travel behaviors of Walmart shoppers, wouldn’t it??

So if the Walmart design needs to “adapt and change people’s travel behaviors” the first, most obvious questions are “How many people?”and  “change their travel behaviors in what ways?” Read the rest of this entry »

As reported on Patch the other day, the DeKalb County Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a public hearing on the planned renovation of Suburban Plaza on Wednesday, December 14th at 1pm (how convenient!) at the Maloof Auditorium at 1300 Commerce Drive in downtown Decatur.

Interested in reading Selig’s parking exception application and parking study for yourself?  Well, we just happen to have a copy.  CLICK HERE to read all 24 pages.

Initial highlights…

• Selig hopes for a reduction from 1,786 spaces (or 5.5 spaces/1000 SF) to 1,269 spaces (or 3.9 spaces/1000 SF) because they believe that “the character of use of Suburban Plaza is such that the full provision of parking spaces required by the Zoning Ordinance is not necessary because actual demand for parking will be much less than the number of spaces required by the Ordinance.”
• Selig points to other “successful shopping centers in similar urban locations in the Atlanta area” that are functioning adequately with” the parking ratios being proposed by Selig.
• They note that MARTA buses currently serve Suburban Plaza and there’s “the possibility of being an integral component of the proposed Clifton Corridor Line.”
• The applicant is “committed” to participating in the Decatur Shuttle system, Emory Shuttle system, and other mass transit systems.
• They argue that the variety of uses in the shopper center allows to “shared parking.”  They go on to detail how grocery stores need more parking on the weekend and in the evening, while restaurants require parking during lunch and dinner, and the bowling alley will have higher demands for parking at night.
• Construction of an underground parking deck will locate 79% of Walmart’s parking underground
• Sidewalks will be built on all street frontages.  “The center will be a hub of transit activity including the Decatur and Emory shuttles over both the near and long term.”
• Selig puts DeKalb County “on notice” that the owner believes “any action other than to approve the application as requested…will result in a violation of the owner’s constitutional rights, including Article I, Section I, Paragraph I; Article I, Section I, Paragraph II; and Article I, Section III, Paragraph I of the Georgia Constitution and the 5th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution.”