Well this has been talked about for how many years now? They finally submitted a request to change zoning along - Cedar Lane Road - for it. This starts to really explain why Cedar Lane is getting expanded to the extent it is.

Norman Transcript : Another brick in the Wal-Mart (http://m.normantranscript.com/normantrans/db_290768/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=AUjmxrie)


Another brick in the Wal-MartBy Joy Hampton
Posted: 07/20/2014 12:44 AM

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Norman could soon have five Wal-Mart stores, including three supercenters and two neighborhood markets. A proposal for the newest supercenter will come before the Norman City Council at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday via a request for a zoning change on Cedar Lane Road between 24th Avenue Southeast and Highway 77 which is also Classen Boulevard.


There is no construction date slated at this point.


“We’ve been working on it for quite a while, but I don’t know when it’s going to happen,” said Tom McCaleb, president of SMC Consulting Engineers, the firm doing the engineering for the project.


If approved, this will be the second southside proposal for a Wal-Mart store in recent months.


Wal-MartRealty recently applied for a building permit for a commercial foundation for a Neighborhood Wal-Mart Market at 2551 Classen Blvd. on the former site of the Sooner Mobile Home Park just north of Highway 9.


Zoning changes were approved in December that allowed a planned unit development with mixed use to include multi-family student housing and the Neighborhood Wal-mart.


If the current proposal is approved, that would put the new supercenter just over a mile from the Neighborhood Wal-Mart under construction on Classen Boulevard and only three and a half miles from the existing eastside Wal-Martat 601 12th Avenue NE.


“They’ve said all along that the eastside Wal-Mart was too small,” McCaleb said.


The existing eastside store is 152,720 square feet and sits on 20.8 acres, according to Cleveland County Assessor records.


The new store is a proposed 200,000-plus square feet super Wal-Mart on about 30 acres.


McCaleb said there is no indication the current eastside store at 12th Avenue and Main Street will close.


“They’ve been looking for a site in south Norman for months,” McCaleb said. “This is not a hasty decision.”


Attorney Blaine Nice represented the applicant before the planning commission which supported the zoning change request in an unanimous vote on June 12. City staff also supports the zoning change.


If approved by the city council, the proposed commercial addition at the southeast corner of Highway 77 and Cedar Lane Road will add the supercenter Wal-Mart with a gas station along with four seller retained commercial out lots to serve the burgeoning development in the area. It’s the common Wal-Mart site plan and closely resembles a new Wal-Mart supercenter in Edmond on Interstate 35.


With housing additions, apartments and duplexes springing up in southeast Norman, Wal-Mart won’t have to look far for a customer base. The store would also be convenient for Noble residents.


Residential development has exploded in south Norman. Single-family neighborhoods to the north of the proposed site include Southlake Addition, St. James Park Addition, and Cedar Lake Estates. Two apartment complexes, Renaissance and Chapel Ridge are also in the area. To the east are two more apartment complexes, The Links and The Greens at Norman.


There are also several new commercial developments north and west of this proposal, along the east and west sides of Classen Boulevard, south of State Highway 9, according to city staff reports.


Directly south, the land is vacant. There are no proposals or preliminary plats under consideration for development in that area, according to staff reports.


Further west, across the railroad tracks there are numerous single-family developments, some existing and some proposed, including the Eagle Cliff Addition, the Eagle Cliff South Addition, the Cedar Lane Addition, the Monterey Addition, and Independence Valley.


Two student based apartments, The Grove and The Avenue, are located on the east side of 12th Avenue S.E., north and west of this development proposal.


The expansion and improvements to Classen Boulevard, the future expansion of East Cedar Lane Road and signalization at the corner of Classen Boulevard and East Cedar Lane Road are making way for continued development in the area, city staff told the planning commission.


On Tuesday, the city council will also consider a zoning change request by Eagle Cliff, L.P. for about 7.34 acres at the southwest corner of Cedar Lane Road and 12th Avenue S.E. The applicant wants to develop the site as 18 duplex lots.


The duplex proposal is about 1,000 feet north of the existing Eagle Cliff Park. The application appeared before the Board of Parks on June 5 and a fee-in-lieu of parkland was approved, according to staff reports.


Joy Hampton
366-3544
jhampton@
normantranscript.com

Waaaaaaaay too many Walmarts here now. Possible three new ones in Edmond... Another one in mustang... Two SAMs.. And now another one in Norman :/

Waaaaaaaay too many Walmarts here now. Possible three new ones in Edmond... Another one in mustang... Two SAMs.. And now another one in Norman :/

This will be #6 for Norman now. This is just insane...

http://www.weatherspotlight.com/screencap/2014-july/normanwalmart.png

There is no reason for a Supercenter to be going in right nearby the new Neighborhood Market. Then you have the existing east side supercenter, while it has been rumored on here to become a Sam's at some point, they simply don't need this new site. The only thing I can think of is this is an easy way for them to pull from Noble and the Norman "suburbs" if you will that are to the south and east.

It's only insane for them if their market share doesn't grow.
As that is really, really unlikely, for Wally world, it is a great move.

For some grocers and others in the community ... ouch.
Some people love to hate on the W, but the bottom line is W has far more fans than detractors.

I live at the Greens over on 24th. Part of me is excited, and the other part (by that I mean my wife) is upset. I mean if Cedar Lane is expanded that's great, and if the main entrance is off 77 this won't be too bad for us, but you have to have a stoplight for a Wal-Mart, and they aren't going to put two stoplights so close to each other, making me think the entrance will be off Cedar Lane. I do think it's silly to have it so close to the neighborhood market, but I understand why they want to put it here, especially for Noble, this will be huge for them.

You said it Venture, Noble. They've got access to lots of cheap land there, and it's close enough to pull from the surrounding areas.

Hey its walmart, they spend more researching new store sites than a lot of companies earn in a year.

I posted this link on the normanok subreddit and also on FB and have been getting pretty mixed reactions, the general consensus is confusion at the proximity to the Neighborhood Market, but also concerns that property values will drop near the new store. Valid complaints i'd say, but not enough that the city will decline the permit IMO.

Oh and also on the Norman Transcript FB pages. There is maybe one positive comment out of 30+. A lot of comments have mentioned local business killers, but let's be honest here with Norman, local businesses have already survived with having 2 SuperCenters in town. If local businesses were going to die, they would have already done so. The people that shop at local businesses will continue to do so, and those that shop at Wal-Mart will continue to do so, I don't see the clientelle changing much. The only community I see this impacting is Noble, with the possibility of some of their businesses closing due to proximity to the new store (Super C-Mart may not survive long)

Not trying to justify Norman becoming Walmartland, but it seems like a good business move. Norman and Noble are growing in that direction. There could be a pull as far east as Pink as well

Now for the two Walmarts being a mile apart. I have a feeling the Neighborhood Market may be targeted at all the college students living in the several large apartment complexes along Classen and in east Norman. The college crowd does go to Walmart, but not for anything that is not available at the Neighborhood Market. It's not like students are parading around in Walmart t-shirts and jeans, but they do get food and cleaning supplies from there.

I agree that the Neighborhood Market will be a hotspot for those complexes, but what about the Ave and the other complex there on 12th (The name escapes me)? Those are adding tons of new people and they're gonna be just down the road from the SuperCenter. Honestly I think it'll be backwards of what you describe, I think more college kids will go to the SuperCenter because it's close, and the Neighborhood Market will be more for local families on the SE side. I'll frequent both since both are on my way home, but I think the majority will go to the SuperCenter.

I think it depends on what youre after. If i dont need to go to a walmart and can just go to a market, heck i'm gonna avoid the supercenter at all costs.

My wife will still probably go to Crest or Target for our groceries since they have everything for that, but I tend to frequent the SuperCenters more. Like the other day I needed a shelf, a prescription, and teriyaki sauce, and it was nice to go to one place and get all of it, but if I need to get a loaf of bread or something i'll probably stop at the Neighborhood Market on my way home from work and skip the SuperCenter.

Wal-Mart proposal off tonight?s Norman City Council agenda » New and Developing » The Norman Transcript (http://www.normantranscript.com/new/x197368605/Wal-Mart-proposal-off-tonight-s-Norman-City-Council-agenda)

Wal-Mart proposal off tonight?s Norman City Council agenda » New and Developing » The Norman Transcript (http://www.normantranscript.com/new/x197368605/Wal-Mart-proposal-off-tonight-s-Norman-City-Council-agenda)

Anybody have any insight that can confirm what the Mayor of Moore has said about the Norman Sam's Club closing when the new Sam's in Moore opens?? Here's the excerpt from the Transcript article linked by Soonerman...

"Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis announced today at the Moore Chamber Luncheon that Moore’s Sam’s Club could open as soon as April. Lewis said when the Sam’s Club in Moore opens, he has been told that Norman’s Sam’s Club will close. Lewis told the Transcript that Sam’s owns the land in Moore but does not own the land in Norman. Records indicate Lewis has been misinformed on the land ownership issue.
According to the Cleveland County Assessor’s records, Sam’s Real Estate Business Trust located in Bentonville, Ark. does own the property at 3400 W. Main St. in Norman where the Sam’s Club is located."

Anybody have any insight that can confirm what the Mayor of Moore has said about the Norman Sam's Club closing when the new Sam's in Moore opens?? Here's the excerpt from the Transcript article linked by Soonerman...

"Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis announced today at the Moore Chamber Luncheon that Moore’s Sam’s Club could open as soon as April. Lewis said when the Sam’s Club in Moore opens, he has been told that Norman’s Sam’s Club will close. Lewis told the Transcript that Sam’s owns the land in Moore but does not own the land in Norman. Records indicate Lewis has been misinformed on the land ownership issue.
According to the Cleveland County Assessor’s records, Sam’s Real Estate Business Trust located in Bentonville, Ark. does own the property at 3400 W. Main St. in Norman where the Sam’s Club is located."

I worked at Sam's Club in Norman for about a year, and I can't imagine it would ever close. It's super busy and services a lot of communities to the south. I can't imagine they would close it and make everyone go to Moore. Both places will be profitable and there's no reason to close Norman.

Pure speculation on my part. But I don't think Mayor Lewis could moore wrong if he tried.

Heres another update. Sounds like the council was pretty hacked off at city staff over not being informed the development was a Wal-Mart.

Interestingly they also unanimously voted against a new apartment complex that staff and planning were both recommending approval for. Perhaps they've finally realized what a joke those organizations are. Or maybe noticed some of the political fallout from the controversial west side vote last year.

Norman Transcript : City leaders say ?yes? to Wal-Mart supercenter postponement (http://m.normantranscript.com/normantrans/db_290768/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=MaUZTZVT)

Just more on the backlash from the developer not disclosing it was Walmart until after getting approval to go to council for the zoning change. The big thing that is pretty shocking is that city staff (read the planning people not elected officials) all knew what was going on, but the mayor was never told? Something doesn't smell right with the way this is being handled.

Council will meet on August 12th to discuss the zoning change and I would expect a large turnout of voters demanding the zoning change be denied and kill the project or force them to move locations. Some of the council members are pretty in tune with how things could play out. If this takes off it could cause Buy For Less and other stores to close in East Norman, which doesn't have the immediate ability to recover like the west side locations near I-35. This could very well cause blight issues a couple neighborhoods if those companies go out of business.

Officials say transparency lacking in Wal-Mart zoning » Headlines » The Norman Transcript (http://www.normantranscript.com/headlines/x1927885216/Officials-say-transparency-lacking-in-Wal-Mart-zoning)

Won't the neighborhood Market kill Buy4Less before the SuperCenter would? I'd be more concerned about it. Also South Norman residents want more options, but not a Wal-Mart. But who's to say after the backlash of voters other companies won't just overlook developing because they think we don't want it? The "Not in my Backyard" is strong with this one.

I had a bigger problem with the neighborhood market than I do the proposed S-center south of 9. And even that problem was simply feeling bad for those long standing residents booted from the closed park, where some of the trailers had been located even longer than the 28 years I've now been located here.

There is a reason folks hate that they love Wally world. If they'd just go ahead and name it wallet world, it'd be spot on. One can overpay at wally world, as they can at other places, but you ahve to work at it a tad more than many places.

There are more than enough WalMarts in town w/o the proposed SC. The town does not need another employer that bases their benefit package on being able to access the social service safety net. This SC would cause more traffic problems than Riverwind and I-35 on a friday night. I for one have told my councilman to deny the zoning change.

I had a bigger problem with the neighborhood market than I do the proposed S-center south of 9. And even that problem was simply feeling bad for those long standing residents booted from the closed park, where some of the trailers had been located even longer than the 28 years I've now been located here.

There is a reason folks hate that they love Wally world. If they'd just go ahead and name it wallet world, it'd be spot on. One can overpay at wally world, as they can at other places, but you ahve to work at it a tad more than many places.

The displacement of these folks along with the deforestation of that area is shameful.

Walmart's Ice Cream Sandwiches Don't Melt In The Sun (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/25/walmart-ice-cream-sandwiches_n_5621240.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular)

Last we checked, ice cream is supposed to melt if it isn't kept chilled.

But Walmart's store-brand ice cream sandwiches don't even melt in the sun, according to a report from WCPO Cincinnati.

The discovery was made by a local mom, Christie Watson, who noticed that a Great Value ice cream sandwich her son left out on their patio table hadn't fully melted -- even though it had been sitting out for 12 hours on an 80-degree day. Watson left a second ice cream sandwich out overnight with the same results, WCPO reports.

"What am I feeding to my children?" she asked, appalled.

“Ice cream melts based on the ingredients, including cream," Walmart spokeswoman Danit Marquardt said in an email. "Ice cream with more cream will generally melt at a slower rate, which is the case with our Great Value ice cream sandwiches."

But as Business Insider reports, the product also contains a number of additives:

According to Wal-Mart's website, the ice cream sandwiches contain milk, cream, buttermilk, sugar, whey, and corn syrup.

It also contains "1 percent or less of mono-and diglycerides, vanilla extract, guar gum, calcium sulfate, carob bean gum, cellulose gum, carrageenan, artificial flavor, and annatto for color."

WCPO conducted an experiment of their own, leaving out a third Walmart sandwich alongside a Klondike bar and a pint of Haagen Dazs ice cream. The Haagen Dazs ice cream -- which contains only cream, milk, sugar, eggs and vanilla, and no gums -- melted fastest. The Klondike bar melted, too.

"The Walmart sandwich, though it melted a bit, remained the most solid in appearance, and still looked like a sandwich," the station reported.

One word: EW.

EEKS!.. that is disturbing. I don't shop at wal-mart however I am sure there are other brands with the same result. Gross.

if non-melting ice cream is disturbing to someone, that person ought to give all fast/convenience food a very wide berth. Some of it makes twinkies look like slackers.

re Sam's Club they will thrive and I would imagine not likely to leave Norman. With the announcement of COSTCO coming, I am sure we will see a COSTCO soon in Norman. A town this size can support both. Sam's and COSTCO coexist within miles of each other all over the country. Just waiting for In-n-Out !! Norman is booming !!!

if non-melting ice cream is disturbing to someone, that person ought to give all fast/convenience food a very wide berth. Some of it makes twinkies look like slackers.

Jim Gaffigan has a hilarious bit about McDonalds and how their fries only taste good when still hot out of the fryer and how their shakes only taste good when still solid (and fresh from the autodog). Leave either one of them alone for 15 minutes and they start to look and taste alike.

The displacement of these folks along with the deforestation of that area is shameful.
Im far from being a tree hugger, but it is a shame what they did to the beautiful park like setting. Im sure there was somewhere else they could have located the market.

Im far from being a tree hugger, but it is a shame what they did to the beautiful park like setting. Im sure there was somewhere else they could have located the market.

I agree. It was a trailer park but it seemed pretty well taken care of. I was kind of excited to see what went in there. I went on vacation and came back and all the trees are gone. Ugh! I have to drive by that every day to get to work, once Walmart is up there it's going to be time to find another way home.

Norman City Council approved the Walmart rezoning at 1 AM this morning after a 7 hour meeting. The change was approved due to the city needing sales tax revenue.

Seven hours? Hopefully there were numerous items which were far more pressing and important to the city to have fretted over than whether to say yea or nay to having a Wally world on the south side of town.

I believe it went that long because of all of the citizens that were there objecting to it. Side note someone had made a comment that the mayor deferred voting until all the council members finished to allegedly see how it played out before putting support in one bucket or the other.

Municipal funding procedures are in bad need of reform. Retail development, while definitely important for a community's growth, shouldn't be the primary concern in economic development activities by local governments.

I believe it went that long because of all of the citizens that were there objecting to it. Side note someone had made a comment that the mayor deferred voting until all the council members finished to allegedly see how it played out before putting support in one bucket or the other.

I've heard they tend to let folks go on a long time. I do get letting folk have their say, but sometimes you just need to set a time limit, take the ones you can form both sides, and make a dang decision. the voters can then communicate their job approval, or lack of it, at the polls.

I do not tend to follow their processes all that close. Does the sitting mayor not regularly vote at the end of the roll call votes?

Regarding the neighborhood market:



University Greens
Emerald Greens
The Commons on Oak Tree
The Cottages of Norman
Forest Pointe
Hampton Woods
Crimson Park
The Grove
The Ave
The Edge




These are all giant student apartment complexes within *extremely* close distance to this new market. Currently, each student in all these complexes drives either all the way to Alameda/12th (The nice Homeland), Main/12th (Walmart), or Robinson/24th (Target/Crest). This is the first legitimate grocery option for all the students on this side of town. Not to mention the closest option for all these new housing subdivisions off of highway 9 right around the corner as well.

While I'm sure we'll all miss our dear beloved trailer park and meth labs, I think we'll move on and this is a good investment for the students.

I thought we were talking about the new supercenter at highway 9 and Classen. This will be south of the neighborhood market.

No you're right, most were. I was just replying to the people from earlier in this thread arguing that removing the trailer park was a shame.

Did that area have a big problem with the meth labs?

Did that area have a big problem with the meth labs?

I believe the meth labs was sarcasm... I know it's hard to detect here... Who knows. Maybe your question was sarcastic too?

No, I was curious. I had not ever heard that the area was a crime hotspot. I really hated to lose the old trees and the animals and birds. There are parts of Norman where it would not surprise me at all to find meth labs but this was not one of them. I think it is a sad thing that Norman is so sprawly and it is very sad that we have so many Walton Enterprises we can't tell them apart.

No you're right, most were. I was just replying to the people from earlier in this thread arguing that removing the trailer park was a shame.

Do you have any prior knowledge of that park? You do realize it wasn't your typical run of the mill trailer park, right? Or are you just making comments with no basis?

Most trailer parks I've seen are garbage. So I would assume he was just asking a legit question. From what I saw, this trailer park was pretty cool. I've seen some really cool trailer parks, but most are white trash.

Most trailer parks I've seen are garbage. So I would assume he was just asking a legit question. From what I saw, this trailer park was pretty cool. I've seen some really cool trailer parks, but most are white trash.

Where was he asking a question or did you not read what he wrote?

My bad, I don't know what I was thinking. Perhaps I just didn't read it right.

Regarding the neighborhood market:



University Greens
Emerald Greens
The Commons on Oak Tree
The Cottages of Norman
Forest Pointe
Hampton Woods
Crimson Park
The Grove
The Ave
The Edge




These are all giant student apartment complexes within *extremely* close distance to this new market. Currently, each student in all these complexes drives either all the way to Alameda/12th (The nice Homeland), Main/12th (Walmart), or Robinson/24th (Target/Crest). This is the first legitimate grocery option for all the students on this side of town. Not to mention the closest option for all these new housing subdivisions off of highway 9 right around the corner as well.

While I'm sure we'll all miss our dear beloved trailer park and meth labs, I think we'll move on and this is a good investment for the students.

Nonsense. The current WalMart is all of three miles away. What an inconvenient distance to drive. Groceries can be had there, the new Market being built, Buy For Less or Homeland. To insinuate this former trailer park was trashy or had a drug culture shows your utter lack of knowledge of the area.

Wow. 3 Miles is apparently too far for some to drive for a Walmart.... if you're about walkablity, I don't think Walmart is the place you're looking for either. I'm still in shock at the number of Walmart here in OKC. I've been meaning to post a thread adding up every Walmart in this city and comparing us to other cities, I just honestly haven't had the time to do the research, but I will.

. I'm still in shock at the number of Walmart here in OKC. I've been meaning to post a thread adding up every Walmart in this city and comparing us to other cities, I just honestly haven't had the time to do the research, but I will.

I'm no going to take the time to hunt for it, but, that has been discussed here previously, plupan.

I'm no going to take the time to hunt for it, but, that has been discussed here previously, plupan.The number of Walmarts in OKC Vs. other cities?

The number of Walmarts in OKC Vs. other cities?

Yes

Hmmm. I'll see if I can find it.

Hmmm. I'll see if I can find it.

I don't think it was in a thread of it's own but was in another more general thread.

If Stillwater can handle two super Wal-Marts, then it should be even easier for Norman to handle 3 of them, since Norman is much, much bigger than Stillwater.

Now that's the thing though... I do not understand why Stillwater would need two Walmarts... wouldn't you rather have one Walmart Supercenter, One Neighborhood Market, and one Super Target

Norman to get new Walmart Supercenter | News OK (http://newsok.com/norman-to-get-new-walmart-supercenter/article/5197557)

There is also a (small) grocery store in Noble. Granted, not open 24 hours and not big and have everything under the sun, but it is there. I am afraid the new Walmart will destroy that business just like it did when it opened the supercenter in South Purcell. There was a grocery store on the south side that closed up, granted there is one on the North side now where the old Walmart used to be, but I am sure it struggles, it is fairly empty when I drive by it.

The thing that puzzles me of the council folk. Those who were against the southern Wallyworld going in were stating that this new WM would simply draw off existing dollars already spent in Norman, not generate new dollars.

If I accept that as financial gospel, it seems a fairly compelling reason to approve the site and not disapprove the site.

WM can build in south Norman, or can elect to build in north Noble if there is also land available (there is).

So if a WM in that general location is going to see tax dollars from elsewhere in Norman end up in that WM location, personally I prefer my council help land that store north of the Norman/Noble line than south of that tax direction boundary. I imagine folks I know in Noble would be quite pleased to see a big arse Wally world just inside their boundaries instead of just across the line in Norman's boundaries.

eatokc, what little I know about the United Foods on the north side of Purcell is that it does all right.

eatokc, what little I know about the United Foods on the north side of Purcell is that it does all right.

That is good to know. I have been in there and the grocery in Noble a few times and never found what I needed. If I did I would shop there when I could.

Noble fight: City south of Norman tried to lure Wal-Mart Supercenter | The Journal Record (http://journalrecord.com/2014/08/25/noble-fight-city-south-of-norman-tried-to-lure-wal-mart-supercenter-real-estate/)

Were I a city father of Noble, I would have fought like crazy to have WM move south just enough to land just inside the Noble city limits. That's a no brainer.