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Wal-Mart wants store in Ulysses
Published 2/22/2008 in News : Area coverage
By STEPHANIE FARLEY
sfarley@gctelegram.com
ULYSSES -- Ulysses City Clerk Mary Smith doesn't really remember the first time she heard Wal-Mart was looking to come to the city.
"I probably thought, 'I'll believe it when I see it,'" Smith said of hearing the rumor.
But on Thursday night, the possibility of Wal-Mart coming to Ulysses -- which would add a fourth store location in southwest Kansas in addition to Liberal, Garden City and Dodge City -- seemed promising, Smith said, adding she feels the giant retailer's proposed super center will be good for the city.
On Thursday, Smith and others attended a Ulysses/Grant County Planning Commission meeting in which Oklahoma City firm SMC Consulting Engineers, on behalf of Wal-Mart, showed the commission the preliminary and final plats for the proposed store. The firm also made a request for extension of water services from the city to the development, which is proposed along the east boundary of Ulysses between Kansas Highway 160 and Hampton Avenue.
Todd Hampton, building official with the city of Ulysses, said he's seen considerable interest by the community in the store, saying his office had received at least 15 or so calls this week from people checking the planning commission meeting time and telling Hampton they planned to attend. City Hall's seating was set up for 35 -- by the start of the meeting at 7 p.m., there was standing room only.
Hampton thought the meeting might last until 9 or 10 p.m. -- maybe later, depending on public response.
Instead, the commission approved the plats at about 7:55 p.m.
It's seldom that issues of rezoning and review of preliminary and final plats come in the same meeting, Hampton said, but he wasn't surprised commissioners approved all three with the Wal-Mart project because they met all requirements.
The commission's approval of the rezoning of land from agricultural to commercial use and review and approval of the preliminary and final plats sets the stage for an approximately 100,000 square-foot Wal-Mart Super Center -- about the same size as Garden City's, according to SMC Consulting -- to join the community.
The Grant County Commission is scheduled to take up the issue on March 4, looking at zoning and possible approval of the final plat. The Ulysses City Council is set to address the store proposal on March 12, considering the zoning, plat and annexing the business and property into the city.
Only a handful of people made their way to the podium during the public comment section of the meeting. Speakers were limited to five minutes each, and by 7:30 p.m., the comments section was closed after no one else got up to speak. Residents asked about issues of a buffer between the store and residential areas (which will be provided), and the proposed store's elevation compared to the residences (pretty much equal) and whether lighting will hit and come into the homes (SMC said there'd be no glare).
Larry Thompson, district engineer for the Kansas Department of Transportation, stated the retailer's traffic study wasn't as detailed as KDOT would like and that those details would need to be worked out as the project moved forward, as well as KDOT being interested in the results of a drainage impact analysis, which hasn't been completed yet.
Tommy Martin, with SMC, spoke about the store Thursday night, saying the retailer would provide a buffer (fencing and/or landscape) between the development and residential areas it was near, as well as extend sanitary sewer to the development. He said Wal-Mart asked that the city extend water services to the northwest and southwest corners of the development.
Design is in the preliminary stages, Martin said, and until the firm and retailer get through more of the process, including financial closing of the property, a proposed time for construction and store opening is uncertain.
Martin said the community's stability and growth was a testament to Wal-Mart wishing to build in Ulysses. Depending on the season, Martin said, the store would employ between 125 and 175 employees. He also stated the retailer typically contributes $30,000 to $50,000 annually in charitable contributions, with the recipients determined by the employees.
The retailer also stands to benefit the community in the number of employees, economic development and increasing sales tax revenue, Hampton said.
"For our community, it's huge," he said of the development.
Hampton said the retailer approached him prior to August 2007 about the possibility of opening a store in Ulysses. He said the company had completed a lot of the site work before contacting him.
Hampton said he thought he might hear more concerns from residents about the possibility of Wal-Mart coming to Ulysses, particularly in regards to how it might affect other local and area businesses, but that most people he'd spoken to were overwhelmingly positive about the project.
Hampton said that while there could be some negative impact from a retailer such as Wal-Mart coming to town, it also means more people will stay in and visit Ulysses.
That's the impact Lynda Fort sees Wal-Mart having on the community. It's not that she's necessarily in favor of Wal-Mart, but she'd like to see people and money stay in the community vs. traveling to Garden City, Liberal and other places.
Hampton said, at this time, the retailer has not requested any tax breaks or incentives, and that to the best of his knowledge, the company doesn't intend to.
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