Mount Pleasant Expected to Approve Zoning Change

Mount Pleasant trustees at the Sept. 12 Village Board meeting are expected to approve a zoning change for a small parcel at 5625 Washington Avenue.

The 1.45 acres sits at the northwest corner of the former Little Saints property, and first came to the village's attention when Walmart proposed a Neighborhood Market for that site.

Neighborhood Markets are full-service grocery stores but only about a quarter the size of a typical Supercenter; about 41,000 square feet compared to 160,000 square feet or more.

A small group of village residents and business owners spoke at a July 19 public hearing opposing a Walmart at that location because of how many other grocery stores are already in the area. Walmart's Neighborhood Market would become the fourth store on as many corners at Highways 31 and 20.

Greg Schilz, general manager of Sentry Foods, was one of the most vocal opponents of the plan.

"Can anyone here think of anywhere there are four stores on the same corner? You can't because it doesn't exist," he said at the hearing. "There won't be peace and harmony where we all prosper because this is about competition."

At the July 20 Planning Commission meeting

"You can vote on the rezone separate of Walmart's plan because it will make it consistent for commercial development no matter who or what is ultimately approved," he said at that meeting.

Trustee Jerry Garski, also a member of the Commission, made a motion at the July 20 meeting requiring a third-party study from Walmart. Though the company says it conducted its own market analysis, corporate representatives won't release the results. Walmart was given 60 days to give Mount Pleasant the results of that study.

Plan Commission members did approve the rezone at that time separate from Walmart's plan, but at the Aug. 9 Village Board meeting, trustees returned the matter to the Planning Commission. They said the commission needed to remove any language that could possibly tie the rezone to Walmart's site plan proposal.

The Commission once again took up the matter at the August 17 Planning Commission meeting, and approved the rezone absent any relation to the Walmart plan.

As for the market study, Debbie Tomczyk, an attorney for Walmart, confirmed the market study had not yet been started.

Mount Pleasant Village Board meeting starts at 7 pm at Village Hall, 8811 Campus Drive. Call (262) 664-7800.