Indo-chinese restaurant coming to Yuma
Walmart bringing back gas stations, FNM now moving to fairgrounds
Notice that this week’s Yuma construction project updates contain a building permit for Sticks Chinese Restaurant at 711 E. 32nd St. This is also the address of the popular Curries Indian Restaurant at the Ramada Inn.
The permit is for tenant improvements to the hotel’s banquet hall, which will be turned into a new Chinese food dining area. The new restaurant will use the existing Curries kitchen, and new equipment, such as woks and deep dryers, are also being added.
Although the building permit lists the restaurant as Sticks, a new Facebook page calls it Chopsticks by Curries and says the restaurant will serve Indo-chinese
cuisine “blending Indian and Chinese flavors for a unique culinary experience that tantalizes taste buds with diverse spices and textures.”
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Did you read the news earlier this week in the Yuma Sun? Walmart plans to build fuel stations at the stores located at 2509 S. Avenue B and 2970 S. Pacific Ave. The Pacific Avenue site will have a convenience store while the Avenue B store will only have fuel pumps.
Walmart representative Ryan Alvarez
explained that Walmart is rolling out a new fuel program throughout the country and determined that fuel stations at the
existing Yuma supercenters would do well.
The Avenue B station will be placed on a lot at the southwest corner
of Avenue B and 28th Street, directly south of the Wells Fargo Bank.
It will have one canopy with 10 pumps and outdoor refrigerated cases for food, drinks and other products for sale with restrooms and an employee attendant in a payment kiosk.
The Pacific Avenue location will have one canopy with eight fuel dispensers and a convenience store about 1,500 square feet in size. It will be placed within the existing parking lot on an undeveloped space previously used as a Walmart fuel station that was demolished in 2008.
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Last week I reported that the evening pop-up market Friday Night Munchies would be moving out of the old Sears parking lot to Connect Church at 2255 W 32nd St., near the old Kmart.
However, the church site did not work out due to a “parking lot situation.” FNM, as it’s commonly called, will now be moving to the Yuma County Fairgrounds, 2520 E. 32nd St.
Starting Friday, April 19, the weekly family and pet friendly Friday night event will officially open at the fairgrounds with
free jumpers and face painting for the kids, live music and a new layout. Admission is free and open to the public from 6-10 p.m.
“Thank you to the community and vendors for your understanding and patience,” organizer Justin Patane said.
Friday Night Munchies is a free weekly pop-up night market that features food, retail vendors, drinks and music. Many food trucks and local shops use this opportunity to introduce their food and specialties to the community.
While the old Sears is closed for good for Friday Night Munchies, another group has started its own weekly night market at the site. Yuma Meets invites local vendors to reserve their spot at 3150 S. 4th Ave., in the old Sears parking lot. For more information, call 928-920-4322.
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Time to answer some questions. A reader heard that a gas company had been hired by Costco to put in a large gas line in front of Plaza Auto Center, at the corner of 32nd Street and Avenue B (across the old Kmart).
We get asked about Costco often. I decided to check again with Yuma officials to see if there’s any truth to this latest tidbit of information.
Alan Kircher, the city’s deputy building official, replied in an email: “We haven’t heard of any plans for a Costco store at the former K-mart site.”
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I’ve received several messages asking about plans for the property located at the southeast corner of Avenue 6E and 48th Street, just south of the existing Ocotillo residential development.
Another recent story in the Yuma Sun explained what’s going on in this area. Hard Red Turtle LLC hopes to develop 298 residential lots on the 77
acres.
Over objections from the Marine Corps Air Station Yuma due to concerns with potential noise complaints, the Yuma Planning and Zoning Commission recommended rezoning 77 acres near the Barry M. Goldwater Range from agriculture to low density residential.
The properties are located within one mile of the BMGR, and generally residential development is limited to no more than one home per two acres within one mile of the range.
Previously, the developer had plans to develop more than 350 lots, but could not get the MCAS to approve the plans.
In 2005, the property owners petitioned to amend the land use to low density, but the Yuma City Council and the Yuma County Board of Supervisors denied the request.
The following year, in 2006, the property owners submitted the same request, and this time, the council and the supervisors approved the request. The land use designation allows developing these properties at a rate of 1 to 4.9 dwelling units per acre.
The property owners also sought to rezone the properties three times and unsuccessfully sought approval from MCAS. Without MCAS approval, the property owners withdrew the applications before the requests reached the council.
The property owners more recently requested to rezone the properties with plans to develop a project featuring graduated densities, with smaller 6,000-square-foot lots at the north end of the project and larger lots of 12,000 square feet at the south end.
City staff recommended approval because military operations within the range changed significantly in 2009 after completion of the Area Service Highway, a 25mile stretch called State
Route 195, also known as the Robert A. Vaughan Expressway, connecting Interstate 8 to San Luis.
The location of the ASH resulted in more than 1,500 acres of land no longer suitable for military training. MCAS has offered these lands for the potential relocation of the Yuma County Fairgrounds or potential development as a solar field.
City staff also noted that MCAS has plans to acquire 4,700 acres of developable land on the east Yuma mesa, adjacent to the northern boundary of the BMGR, half of which is located within the city. This will result in the loss of more than 5,700 potential homes, which has prompted the city to identify new opportunities for residential development.
MCAS remains opposed to the rezoning. Nevertheless, the commission voted 3-2 to recommend approval of the request. The council will have the final say.
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Here are the Yuma Commercial Construction Project updates for this week and last:
• CERTIFICATES OF OCCUPANCY ISSUED: Starbucks, 2883 W.
24th St., Suite 100, for a remodel.
• BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED: Eurofins Microbiology Lab, 3337 E. 33rd Place, for tenant improvements; Sticks Chinese Restaurant,
711 E. 32nd St., for tenant improvements; and Sunset Community Health, 675 S. Avenue B, for a remodel.
• NEW PLANS SUBMITTED FOR REVIEW: Yuma Regional Medical Center, 2400 S. Avenue A, for sterile processing alterations; YRMC, 2400 S. Avenue A, for Support Services Administration remodel.
if you know of a new business that has or will be opening, relocating or closing, please send the information to mknaub@yumasun.com.