Planners block Wal-Mart expansion Planners block Wal-Mart expansion (June 04, 2004)

Commission demands architectural 'embellishments' before OK'ing permit
by Jeb Bing

Pleasanton planners don't like the looks of Wal-Mart and they've told architects at the retailer's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., to work on a new design.

In what local Wal-Mart representatives thought would be a routine bid for a permit to add a 5,700-square-foot stockroom addition to the 10-year-old, 126,700-square-foot store at Owens and Rosewood drives, the Pleasanton Planning Commission turned thumbs down until design changes are made.

"We're not saying that you have to tear the store down," Commissioner Trish Maas told Wal-Mart attorney Jennifer Renk, "but your store is not very attractive. This is an opportunity to make changes that will make it more appealing."

Besides the new stockroom, Wal-Mart is also asking to more than double the size of its outdoor, fenced garden center, from 5,000 square feet now to nearly 11,000 square feet.

While the commission did not reject the store's request for design review approval for its new storage room, it asked Renk to let architects in Bentonville know that they will have to update the building before a construction permit will be approved. Voting unanimously against the recommendation of the city's Associate Planner Heidi Kline to approve the project, commissioners instead continued the hearing indefinitely until they are satisfied the store will undergo "architectural embellishments" that they like.

"I want to see Wal-Mart make this Pleasanton store more attractive," said Commission Chairwoman Mary Roberts. "It needs some type of landscaping near the store."

Commissioner Brian Arkin cited what he called the "architecturally superior" Kohl's Department Store under construction at the other end of the Metro 580 Center.

"It's time for Wal-Mart to do more of an update," he said.

The commission's action wasn't the first time in recent months that structural changes have been questioned at Wal-Mart. Councilwoman Jennifer Hosterman blocked an earlier routine request by the store to add new refrigeration units for its milk cases, expressing concern that it could be an effort by Wal-Mart to turn the store into a Wal-Mart Supercenter that would sell groceries as well as merchandise. Hosterman has criticized Wal-Mart publicly for underpaying its employees and for providing them with only minimal health benefits.

But Renk and Kline both told the Planning Commission that the petition to build a storage room was not part of any future expansion as a Supercenter.

"I want to stand here tonight and dispel any kinds of myths that may be floating around and to assure you that Wal-Mart has no current plans to expand this store into a Supercenter," Renk said. "So if there's any sort of notion that this is constituting some sort of 'Supercenter creep,' I want you to know that that is not the case."

Kline said that when the Pleasanton Wal-Mart was built in 1994, the city authorized it to expand by another 30,000 feet in the vacant area between the store and Owens Drive. The garden center, which is not considered a structure, is not part of Wal-Mart's overall square footage or the 30,000 additional expansion rights that it holds.

The stockroom addition was proposed after officials in City Hall and the Hacienda Business Park rejected the store's request to position temporary trailers alongside the store during holidays to hold merchandise and layaways that could no longer fit inside. The new storage area would allow excess inventory to be stored under roof as well as provide space for an employee break room, Renk said.

She also emphasized that the addition would look just like the main store, with a "seamless design."

That design was the result of numerous changes Wal-Mart architects made to the store at the request of Pleasanton planners 10 years ago.

Now the commission is weighing in again, as Commissioner Arkin said, "to upgrade the building with an even better design plan."

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