Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 19, 1994 TAG: 9402190110
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE and LON WAGNER STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
City officials also unveiled preliminary plans for a new exit off Interstate 581 to accommodate additional mall traffic generated by Wal-Mart and to open the remaining farmland around the mall for development.
"A proposed new connection would allow the city to bring in more businesses," Mayor David Bowers said at a news conference. "And it would address concerns about traffic at Valley View, particularly around the holidays."
It could be years before a new I-581 interchange could gain state and federal approval.
City officials say the interchange would cost at least $2 million. That preliminary estimate does not include the cost of extending Valley View Boulevard.
City Manager Bob Herbert said the cost to local taxpayers could be minimal if the road qualifies as a state and federal economic development project.
Fred Altizer, Virginia Department of Transportation administrator for the Salem District, said he was not familiar with the specifics of the city's proposal for a new I-581 interchange. But Altizer cautioned that obtaining interstate access is "a long process, I can tell you that."
Altizer said an analysis will have to include a traffic impact statement, looking at the alternatives to a new interchange, and the impact of existing traffic.
VDOT and federal highway authorities don't want to add congestion or confusion to traffic patterns on the interstate, he said.
"We realize we have certain interchanges that were built with the interstate system that created problems," Altizer said, "and we want to make sure we don't make the same mistakes we made when we built the system."
The proposal for an interchange between Hershberger Road and Orange Avenue is not a new one. In the late 1970s, the city made a similar push for an interchange at 10th Street Northwest.
But Herbert said the "human price" was too high for an interchange at 10th Street. That's why the city's proposal steers to the north of the 10th Street neighborhoods.
With or without a new interchange, Wal-Mart plans to build a store off I-581 near Valley View Mall.
It will be either a 126,000-square-foot store on 25 acres south of Valley View Mall, or - if it can get a small piece of land rezoned - a 200,000-square-foot supercenter. The city Planning Commission will hold a hearing March 2.
Bob Brown, district manager for Wal-Mart, said the supercenter would be the largest in Virginia. It could include an eyeglass center, one-hour photo center, auto center, grocery store and hair salon.
The supercenter would be 1.75 times the size of the new Lowe's superstore near Crossroads Mall.
The store could be open by the Christmas shopping season.
Brown said the supercenter would employ about 450 people, who would make a starting salary of $5 to $10 an hour. He said about 60 percent of those jobs would be full time.
With plans for new stores in Rocky Mount and Roanoke, Wal-Mart increases its need for a distribution warehouse to serve retail stores in this region, Brown said.
Those warehouses - which have about 1 million square feet - generally serve stores within a 200-mile radius, making Southwest Virginia a contender for the distribution center.
The supercenter would compound traffic congestion at Valley View Mall. Shoppers would have to endure several holiday shopping seasons before a new I-581 interchange could be approved and constructed.
Herbert said city officials were working with the mall owners to come up with short-term plans to improve traffic flow by installing new signs and lights.
The new interchange and extension of Valley View Boulevard would open about 130 acres of farmland to development. Some 62 acres zoned for residential and light industrial use are located east of I-581, with another 70 acres of developable land to the west.
City officials say Faison and Associates, a Charlotte, N.C.-based company that developed Valley View Mall, has a "close working relationship" with the owners of the 62-acre tract beside the mall.
T.L. Plunkett, a Roanoke attorney representing the dozen or so heirs to the property, declined to say if Faison had an option to buy the land.
City officials said they had no overall plan as to what type of development - retail, office parks or light manufacturing - would take place on the farmland if the I-581 interchange were built.
Herbert said the city's planning department would give "serious consideration" to drawing up a blueprint.
In addition to the new jobs generated, city officials said the Wal-Mart supercenter would generate tax revenues for the city.
Wal-Mart would pay a one-time $215,000 real estate tax rollback on the 25-acre pasture, which has been in a city program that gives a tax break for agricultural property.
The Wal-Mart supercenter also would is expected to generate annual sales of $60 million, translating into $600,000 in new tax revenue, according to Philip Sparks, acting chief of Economic Development.
Herbert said the estimated sales tax revenue did not account for decreased sales from existing stores that might lose customers to the new Wal-Mart.
by CNB