Few Participate in Second Poway Walmart Expansion Meeting

Community members and stakeholders gathered Wednesday evening for the second of two neighborhood meetings about Walmart’s proposal to expand its Poway store.

Roughly 15-20 people trickled in and out of the two-hour Walmart-sponsored informational session, which was held in the City Council chambers.

The public had the opportunity to ask Walmart representatives at the chambers—which was filled with poster boards of proposed building images and tables with factsheets—questions about the plan to expand the store from 142,937 square feet to 179,933 square feet. The project includes the removal of the existing Tire and Lube Express and the adjacent, vacant 7,000 square feet of commercial structure.

“It’s really just an opportunity to communicate in an informal setting that really allows people to get as many or as few questions as they want answered and not be intimated by the process of having to come to a public hearing or having to submit something in writing to the city,” said Walmart spokesman Aaron Rios.

Representatives of the architectural, engineering and landscaping firms hired by Walmart sat or stood behind tables and were available to answers questions from attendees. Community members could also submit written comments or questions about the 524-page Environmental Impact Report draft and the 19,922 pages of supplemental material.

“If you have your individual questions, that’s what this is for,” said Walmart associate Sara Border, who has worked at the Poway location for nearly six years. “Your questions are being answered and directed to what you’re concerned with.”

The meeting was set up like the first public meeting at the same location on Thursday, May 26. Rios said about 30 people attended the first meeting.

Joe St. Lucas, head of the group No on Walmart Expansion, or No WE, attended both meetings.

“Last week, we came thinking that it may be a different format,” Joe St. Lucas said. “We thought last week we would have people being able to get up and talk.”

He added that several members from his 800-member group went to the previous meeting to share their comments, but ended up leaving after they saw the format of the meeting.

“I prefer to sit back and watch other people ask questions,” said Mary Lou St. Lucas, Joe's wife. “I’m not going to go up and ask questions, but I benefit from other people asking questions.”

Poway’s Director of Development Services Bob Manis said while the neighborhood meetings are encouraged by the city, they are not required by city code. Therefore, Walmart decided on the format of the company sponsored-meetings, he said.

“We’ve heard positive and negative about it,” he said. “Some people were not expecting it, but some people actually liked the ability to actually go up to the consultant and ask direct questions. It depends on who you talk to.”

Many of the community members who participated in the meeting expressed concerns about the impact on traffic along nearby roads and noise while other attendees expressed concerns about other grocery stores in the area.

“I came tonight to see what was going on,” Laura Van Tyne said. “My concerns are about the traffic and urban decay.”

Walmart is required to address all written questions in the final version of the Environmental Impact Report, according to state law. Written comments can be submitted to the city until June 13.

The City Council will hold public hearings after the final version has been submitted, Manis said. The dates for the hearings have not yet been scheduled, he added.

“We really won’t know until we get to the end of the public review period to have a better sense of how long it might be,” Manis said.

Click here to view a copy of the draft.