Wal-Mart revives plans

In the first official movement in nearly three years, Wal-Mart has asked the state for permits to start work on improvements to U.S. Highway 95 and Honeysuckle Avenue for a supercenter in Hayden.

Yet the city is still waiting for the world’s largest retailer to provide a revised site plan and building permit application for the proposed 195,000-square-foot store, which has sparked controversy among residents.

City Planner Lisa Key expects to get those details this month, after nearly a three-year wait. During that time Wal-Mart worked with the city engineer on plans to relocate a sewer lift station on the property in order to realign the intersection of Highway 95 and Honeysuckle.

“The thing is there is nothing official,” Key said. “They have not submitted anything.”

Wal-Mart also has worked with the Idaho Transportation Department for nearly three years before officially requesting an encroachment permit on Dec. 11 to modify traffic signals and add turning lanes on both U.S. 95 and Honeysuckle Avenue.

District Traffic Engineer Mike Porcelli said the department is reviewing the application, which must go to Boise for comment. Hayden must also sign off on the permit, a process Porcelli said may take at least three more weeks.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Karianne Fallow didn’t return phone calls last week.

Once the permit is issued, Wal-Mart will have one year to do the work.

Porcelli said the application didn’t include a timeline.

“We assume they are hoping to get started this spring,” he said.

Porcelli said Wal-Mart is requesting the following:

•Modify traffic signals on U.S. 95 at the Honeysuckle Avenue intersection.

•Add a dual, left-turn lane on U.S. 95 north.

•Widen the westbound lane of Honeysuckle Avenue to two lanes.

•Add a right turn lane to eastbound Honeysuckle Avenue so traffic can turn south on U.S. 95.

The last movement on the stalled Hayden supercenter was in February when the retailer took official ownership of the land. Wal-Mart initially proposed coming to Hayden in 2002, but two years later negotiations between the city and the retailer broke down.

In February 2004, Wal-Mart officials argued it had complied with all of Hayden’s laws and that the city was going overboard to keep it from coming to town. At the time, Wal-Mart said it was prepared to sue.

Initially Wal-Mart wanted to build a larger store on the 40 acres of land. Part of the property was zoned to allow commercial businesses while the other acreage was reserved for multifamily housing, such as apartments.

Wal-Mart asked the city to amend its comprehensive plan, the foundation of all land-use decision, to allow commercial business on the property zoned for multifamily housing. After hundreds of people opposed the change, the Hayden Planning and Zoning Commission recommended in December 2002 that the City Council reject the proposal.

In response, Wal-Mart opted to build a smaller store on the land that already allows commercial business, now partially occupied by an espresso and fruit stand. Hayden denied the building permit, saying that the company needed to make changes to the footprint of its building to meet codes and that a new site plan was needed. That’s when Wal-Mart threatened the lawsuit, which never transpired.