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A representative of the engineering
firm that drew up plans, Allen Oertel of Crawford, Murphy & Tilly of
Springfield, was also present.
A five-lane main entry to a new
Wal-Mart would be where the Burger King drive on Route 10-Woodlawn
Road is now, Pudik said. A secondary entry would be at the Illini
Bank entrance. They have a verbal agreement with Zion Lutheran
School to realign their drive with the traffic signal.
In addition to a 184,000-square-foot
new store, a Murphy Oil gas station would be situated at the corner
of the property where it meets Woodlawn Road. An outdoor seasonal
sales area like they have now is also planned.
There is an excess of 32 acres
behind where the new facility would be located. Mayor Beth Davis and
city attorney Bill Bates have requested that the portion possibly be
donated to the city for the development of a commercial park. That
would be in exchange for some of the costs of development that would
need to take place at the site, such as drainage, Bates said.
The
Wal-Mart contract has several contingencies:
- Wal-Mart purchases the properties
by Dec. 31, 2006.
- Wal-Mart is able to enter into a
development agreement with the city of Lincoln.
- If Wal-Mart does not build on the
site by Dec. 31, 2009, they will disconnect from the petition.
[to top of second column in this article]
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 Mayor Davis said that the
development agreement would be the usual "who is going to do what,"
such as drainage issues. A new sewer lift station is in the planning
for the area, and Wal-Mart may be asked to help with that cost.
Bates recommended that the aldermen
be aware that the annexation is with the landowners. There is no
obligation from Wal-Mart to build there. If they don't build there,
it is automatically detached from the city, Bates said.
Zoning for the area appears to be
generally satisfactory for the intended use, other than some
understanding of outdoor storage. The area is mostly C-2, with a
small corner zoned I-1.
Voting on annexation and a development
agreement is on next Monday's agenda.
[Jan
Youngquist]
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