The empty lot in Atascadero that was once a Walmart battlefield could hold a grocery store and mixed-use residential and retail development in the near future.
Although some neighbors expressed concerns about recent changes to the project and questioned the city's transparency efforts, the City Council unanimously approved a conditional use permit for the project on June 28. Construction on the 11-acre lot will continue commercial build-out at the intersection of El Camino Real and Del Rio Road, which abuts residential areas to the north and east.
Atascadero Mayor Heather Moreno and City Councilmember Susan Funk said they understood some of the frustrations that community members might have with the planning process, but added that the area in question is commercially zoned.
"The project does change over time in response to those comments and concerns [from the public], and that can be frustrating because the answers change, but it is ultimately directed at having something that serves the community," Funk said. "It's hard if you're living next to property which is zoned for commercial use—which happens a lot in Atascadero—and hasn't yet been developed to its full capability. It's hard to realize that, yeah, someday that's going to happen."
City residents fought Walmart's attempts to develop the corner for 10 years, and the retail giant pulled out of the project in 2017. The city released a strategic plan for the Del Rio commercial area in 2012. In 2020, the city updated that strategic plan, including adding mitigation for some of the traffic questions that marred the Walmart development project.
City staff said that the new project—which would include 580 parking spaces, a 32,000 square-foot grocery store, 31,000 square feet of retail/commercial space, 18,600 square feet of light industrial space, and 31,000 square feet of office space with options for second and third floor residential units—is consistent with the specific plan and the area's zoning. The project applicant completed a traffic analysis, which said additional lanes on Del Rio Road would be helpful.
As building permits are issued, applicants will analyze traffic numbers and complete those road improvements/add lanes when they're needed, according to Kelly Gleason, a senior planner with the city.
"Conditioning it to tie into building permit issuance allows all projects in the area to move forward until capacity is reached," Gleason said.
She added that one of the major concerns that neighbors who reached out to the city had was noise from the project—both its operation and construction. She said the developer would be installing sound walls on the sides of the project facing neighborhoods.
Councilmember Charles Bourbeau was worried that semi-trucks unloading deliveries at the back of the grocery store would bother residents.
"Is there going to be a lot of beep-beep-beep noises there?" he asked.
Gleason responded that the building won't be designed like other grocery stores might be.
"It's not the traditional grocery store where you actually back up to a loading platform. It's more of a pull-up style," she said, adding that would cut down on the beeping.
Council members all questioned whether the taller buildings would overshadow the solar components of the planned residential development to the north and conditioned both the height of the buildings and the height of the trees that will be planted on the site so they wouldn't interfere with solar access.
"I'm hesitant to put requirements that could cost this project more and more money, when, from what I see, every measure has been taken to protect as best as can be," Moreno said. "It has been zoned as commercial for decades and something is bound to go in there." Δ