Public Hearing on July 19 For Proposed WalMart in Mount Pleasant

Mount Pleasant residents are invited to a public hearing at 7 pm on Tues., July 19 at Village Hall to hear a presentation from WalMart about a new, smaller store on Washington Avenue.

The hearing is prompted because the zoning of that parcel would need to change in order for the plans to continue.

Designed for the space where the former Little Saints day care facility stands across the street from Sentry, the new WalMart store is branded as a Neighborhood Market. At only 41,000 square feet, it is considerably smaller than the SuperCenter on Durand Avenue in Sturtevant.

Trustee Gary Feest said he doesn't feel one way or the other about the proposed store, but he does think residents and trustees are being brought into the project too late in the game.

"There are some businesses that go through all the right steps before the proper committees and then get to the board or meet resistance from residents and their project falls apart," he said. "Why not inform trustees what's going on before we get to the public hearing so, as representatives for the residents, we can talk to residents and get a feel for what they think."

He pointed to Caledonia and the continuing debate in that village about a proposed WalMart for the corner of Highway 31 and 4-Mile Road.

"The company presented their designs and plans and got close to the finish line only to be met with so much resistance that we still don't know what's going on up there," Feest added. "Why not avoid all that and save businesses money by bringing in the elected officials earlier in the process?"

Trustee John Hewitt said he didn't know WalMart was looking around Mount Pleasant since they have the SuperCenter just a couple of miles away on Durand Avenue. Plus, he wonders if the new store is necessary given its proximity to other food stores.

"We have so many other stores in the direct area offering many of the same services," he noted.

Within a three- or four-mile radius, the Neighborhood Market would join two Pick-n-Save stores, two Piggly Wiggly stores, three Walgreen's, a Sentry, the new Gordon Foods and the WalMart SuperCenter.

Michael Wright, a Mount Pleasant-Sturtevant Patch Facebook follower posted this suggestion, "A better spot for the store would be in the old Piggly Wiggly location at Washington and West. No other stores (are) close by. (It) would draw a huge local crowd."

Other posts fell more in the "for" or "against" column:

From Toby Mueller, "Why not? If there is a need why shouldn't a store be put there? Or is it just that people are against it because it is a Walmart? People want jobs and a tax base but don't want to allow businesses to build. Why?"

Shelley Hansen simply said, "YES!!!!"

The Racine County Indoor/Outdoor Farmer's Market, however, opposes the idea. They said, "Then little markets like ours don't thrive when a big Wal-mart is around. We are trying. RCIOFM opened last weekend and is hoping to provide healthy sustainable food to North Racine."

According to a story from The Racine Journal Times, the developer, Frank Gatlin of Gatlin Development Co., said that Neighborhood Markets have a lot less impact on traffic than traditional WalMart stores and thus, have less opposition.

Mount Pleasant Village Hall is located at 8811 Campus Drive. Call (262) 554-8750.

What do you think about a new WalMart or Neighborhood Market on Washington Avenue?