Walmart Tire Center

Poway Walmart expansion approved on 4-1 vote

Councilman Dave Grosch voted against the plan, saying he did not like that a delivery truck entrance would be moved from Midland Road to Hilleary Place, potentially disturbing residents of three apartment buildings on the two-lane street.

About 130 people, some sitting in an overflow area in the lobby of the council meeting building, attended the hearing. Twenty-eight people, many of them Walmart employees, spoke in favor of the expansion, while 10 spoke against it.

City Councilman John Mullin set the tone for the majority vote when he said, “When you take out all the chatter, what we’re looking at is a pretty straightforward land-use decision.” The current store is zoned for commercial use and is simply applying for a larger version of that allowed use, he said.

Mayor Don Higginson praised Walmart’s financial investment in the community and said he did not buy into arguments lodged by project opponents that the addition would generate traffic or noise problems or would negatively impact other nearby grocery stores.

“All I’ve heard tonight is that there are monsters under the bed,” the mayor said, “There are no monsters under the bed.”

The vote means Walmart may proceed with its plans, announced over two years ago, to expand the 18-year-old Poway store (the first Walmart built in the county) by 36,996 square feet, to 179,933 square feet. The expansion would be to the west, north and east sides of the Community Road store and would include the addition of fresh produce, a meat department, deli and bakery. The tire and lube center would be removed, along with a detached building that was once used as a post office and later as a produce store.

The amount of floor space that will be devoted to groceries will increase from 4,331 square feet to 39,831 square feet, according to project documents.

Walmart officials said the expanded store will be open 24 hours a day. The current store is allowed to be open around the clock but that only happens during the holiday shopping season.

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