Menards given green light

Planning Commission OKs revised plan

The Avon Planning Commission granted final approval for a new Menards store on Jan. 17.

In a 5-0 vote, the commission approved the revised final development plan, giving the green light for the project to proceed to construction later this year.

The planned 173,248-squarefoot location will be located at 35700 Chester Road. It is expected to open in spring 2019 with construction getting underway in spring 2018, according to Tom O’Neil, who represents Menards real estate acquisitions division.

O’Neil said the store would bring 40 full-time and 75 parttime positions for a total of 115 new jobs to Avon.

The revised plan includes a slight change to the site to make the entrance to the store’s lumber yard safer and more accessible for commercial trucks and vehicle traffic attempting to access that area.

He added the change would maintain an access point to Schneider Court.

The planned 173,248-squarefoot location will be located at 35700 Chester Road.

“Over the litany of this project we’ve had some plan changes, we’ve had some delays, internal, some because of some wetlands as a result of where we’ve been and how long it’s taken we felt compelled to come and re-introduce the project, make sure we are updating our approvals and come

back in a slight change in the site plan as far as how our traffic accesses the lumber yard,” O’Neil said.

The project is a continuation of positive economic trends for Chester Road, which already features a Cabela’s and Duluth Trading Co. locations and will welcome a Main Event Entertainment complex in the spring.

Mayor Bryan Jensen was happy to see the development move forward

with continued growth in the area with development coming at a speed the city is able to manage effectively, while putting to rest rumors of the Menards project not coming to fruition.

“It’s always exciting to have a new business and finally, all the rumors were out there that they’re not coming and something was going on,” Jensen said. “The nice thing is not everything came at once like we thought it was going to.”