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Memo to Planning Commission/P 98-9 November 24, 1998 {Page 4 • At the writing of this report staff had not received a full set of revised plans for this project. The only plans available for review was the concept plan; therefore, staff comments will only pertain to the concept plan. General Layout The project consists of 9 commercial lots. Walmart will be located on a 21 acre lot and the home improvement store, along with an attached retail store and a freestanding retail store, will be located on a 15 acre lot. The square footage of the retail stores was not included on the plans. The 5 freestanding sites along highway 169 have not changed from the original plans. The office lot adjacent to the wetland at the corner of 3rd Avenue and Crossing Avenue has been combined with the outlot that included the wetland. The office/service lot on the south end of the project has been combined with the outlot that included the wetland at the intersection of Crossing Avenue and Tyler Street. The proposed layout seems to open up the project and makes it appear less crowded than the original plans. The open area, which includes wetlands, around Walmart and the proposed office lot could be turned into an amenity for the site if landscaped properly. • Access and Parking Because the square footage of the retail was not included on the plans, it is not possible to determine if the plans meet the parking requirements. The parking calculations along with the square footage of the building should be included on the plans. The layout of the parking lots for the home improvement center and Walmart have been changed. The parking lots are not connected on the revised plans. They are separated by a narrow strip (10 feet wide). Within this strip is a proposed sidewalk. However, with parking proposed on both sides there is not sufficient room to provide for a comfortable pedestrian access. If parking is to be included along the strip, the area should be widened so that landscaping can be included along the sidewalk. Additional landscaped islands should be included at midpoints of the parking aisles to break up the long rows of parking stalls, to provide some relief to the expanse of pavement, to help control traffic flow and provide shade. Access into the project will be provided by Crossing Avenue. Crossing Avenue is not proposed to continue through the project. The public right-of-way from 3rd Avenue will end at the south property line of lot 4, which is located along • Highway 169. The public right-of-way from Tyler Street will end at the west \\elkriver\sys\shrdoc\planning\scott\p98-9rev.doc