Neighborhood Market Goes Before Tech Review

FARMINGTON — Farmington’s new Neighborhood Market that will be located at Grace Lane and Main Street went before the city’s Technical Plat Review Committee last week at City Hall.

Walmart was represented by Nate Bachelor, project manager with CEI Commercial Development in Bentonville.

During the meeting, city officials and representatives of various utility companies provided their written comments on the store’s large scale development plan. City officials included Melissa McCarville, business manager, fire Chief Mark Cunningham and city engineer Chris Brackett with McGoodwin, Williams and Yates engineering firm in Fayetteville.

Brackett, after the meeting, said the large scale development plan was “very well done. You’ll notice I didn’t have any comments about the drainage report. It was done extremely well.”

Brackett, in submitting his written comments on the site plan, asked Bachelor to label different aspects on the plan. For example, he wants all easements shown on the plan. He also asked Bachelor to label the proposed sidewalk and green space, the property boundary shown and to label the adjacent properties, including name, address and zoning.

For the grading plan, Brackett said the project has to show the water surface elevation in the detention pond for a 100-year flood. The grading plan also must provide a minimum four-foot trickle channel in the bottom of the detention pond.

For the landscape plan, Brackett noted that the company is required to sod the detention pond. He also noted that Walmart’s plan has to show where it meets the requirements of the city’s Landscape Ordinance to provide perimeter landscaping of the detention pond and a tree protection fence to preserve existing trees during construction. Most cities require the orange, plastic fencing but Farmington requires a chain-link fence.

He asked Bachelor to provide more detail on the company’s request for a variance in the landscape plan.

The city’s landscaping ordinance would require Walmart to provide 73 trees and 597 shrubs. The company originally requested a variance to the ordinance to be allowed to have 71 trees and 158 shrubs. Bachelor said he planned to submit an amended request for the landscape variance, noting that Walmart had directed him to look for some cost-cutting measures.

Bachelor said Walmart wanted to remove curb and gutter from the parking lot and Brackett said Farmington does not have an ordinance to require developers to curb and gutter their parking lots.

“We strongly recommend that they do it but they don’t have to,” Brackett said after the meeting.

He told Bachelor that as long as the company can drain the parking lot, it did not have to install curb and gutter.

Brackett said the Neighborhood Market in Centerton does not have curb and gutter in the parking lot.

“I’ve seen that parking lot and I think it looks horrible,” Brackett told Bachelor.

The Farmington Planning Commission will consider the store’s large scale development plan on Dec. 23.

Bachelor said Walmart plans to go out for bids on the project immediately after the plan is approved by the commission. Walmart is proposing to build a 32,849-square-foot store that will create up to 95 jobs and open in the fall of 2014.

“We’re pursuing this one quickly,” Bachelor said at the tech review meeting. “Hopefully, we will get all our permits and get this to rock and roll.”