The Poway City Council voted Tuesday to approve an expansion on the city's Walmart.
Under the approved proposal, Walmart will expand the Poway store on Community Road by nearly 37,000 square feet, adding a fresh produce area, a meat department, a deli and a bakery.
It would get rid of the existing Tire and Lube Express and add a new driveway entrance into the shopping center along Hillary Pl.
The plan will also renovate the entrance of the store to give it a “small town type of aesthetic character,” the report said.
Prior to the Council’s approval, an Environmental Impact Report found the expansion would have no major impact on noise or traffic.
Powegians have long been concerned about the impact that the expansion would have on the city. Discussions among civilians date back to 2009, when a group called No on Walmart Expansion formed to question the expansion.
About one-hundred people showed up at the meeting Tuesday to voice their opinion on the expansion.
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“Everyone wants low prices, everyone wants fresh food. It's great to have that, it’s just the location it’s at right now surrounded by residential houses is not the appropriate spot for expansion,” one member of the No on Walmart Expansion group said at the meeting.
“Walmart works with local suppliers as well as provide jobs for our local residents of Poway,” a Walmart expansion supporter said. “The benefits of Walmart are more than just a job. Walmart is a community partner involved with the Kiwanis club and local organization to support the community any way we can.”
Walmart plans to operate the expanded store 24-hours a day year round.
It could take up to a year for groundbreaking on the expansion.
