Village Approves Wal-Mart Plat and Plan

On Tuesday, the Village Board voted to approve the final plat and plan. A lack of fiscal discipline and a greater lack of imagination has gotten us here, folks.

Well, that's never the end of it. We don't have to accept the bad decision resulting from a bad process.

West Dundee OKs Wal-Mart


West Dundee trustees approved a final plan to develop a 30-acre site on the perimeter of Spring Hill Mall into a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

The village board on Tuesday unanimously backed the final plat, which divides the parcel into individual lots and outlines the developer's plan for the site.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, proposes a 186,000-square-foot super store at the corner of Huntley Road and Elm Avenue. Wal-Mart's proposed store will include a general merchandise section and full-service grocery store, a garden center and a drive-through pharmacy.
After two months of public hearings, village board meetings, commission meetings and protests, several changes were made to Wal-Mart's plan.

"Wal-Mart has modified the plan to take into account many - or all - of the requests the planning and zoning commission made, from the appearance review commission, from public comments and from the board of trustees," said Trustee Norm Osth.

Those requests included lowering the height of the light posts at the rear of the property to reduce the amount of light leaking into the adjacent subdivision, increasing the height of the berm separating the retailer and residents and also reducing the size of monument signs.

"We are in substantial conformance with the village's standards," said Rob Gamruth, Wal-Mart's counsel for land use and zoning.

Community Development Director Cathleen Tymoszenko said the final engineering of the development is "very, very close to being finalized."

Though dozens of residents have spoken out against the retailer's proposal, just a handful were in attendance Tuesday.

Residents say the development, which would occupy a parcel of land first zoned for a Meijer store in 2000, does not suit the community's image and would increase traffic, as well as crime.
Furthermore, residents said the village should not count on the retailer to increase revenue as Spring Hill Mall flails.

Now that the village has approved the final plat, Gamruth said the developer would likely submit applications for building permits "fairly shortly," but did not have an exact time frame.