Ringling Plaza Walmart still under review

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is working its way through the permitting process at City Hall with its Ringling Plaza supercenter. The store’s application is expected to come before the Sarasota Planning Board as early as October.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. submitted a preliminary application to the city’s planning department for a 97,779-square-foot supercenter store in the Ringling Shopping Center earlier this year.

The store would revitalize a commercial area that now includes an aging plaza that lost its anchor tenant in October 2011 when Publix Super Markets Inc. closed as the plaza’s anchor tenant to make way for its new Publix at 2031 Bay St.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has plans to demolish the existing plaza and build the store in its place, if the Sarasota City Commission approves the project.

At a Development Review Committee meeting Wednesday, city staff discussed the application, including clarifications for truck routing, places for bicycles and pedestrian-access points.

Senior planner Courtney Mendez explained that the biggest change to the applicant’s pre-application has been moving the store closer to the street and moving some employee parking to the rear of the future store.

Concerns from residents in Gardens of Ringling Park, Alta Vista and Laurel Park also have staff and Wal-Mart officials working on visible pedestrian access points.

“A lot of pedestrians cut across the current parking lot to access Payne Park, and we want to avoid that in the future,” Mendez said.

Concrete pedestrian access points will be created near the front of the store along Lime Avenue and Ringling Boulevard to deter people from walking behind the store, where trucks will make deliveries.

Mendez expects the pre-application to come back before the Development Review Committee one more time before the application is deemed complete and sent before the Planning Board for its review, either in October or November.

The Walmart Supercenter, if approved, would be small by Wal-Mart standards, according to the pre-application. Typical supercenters are 150,000 square feet.

The store, which would include general merchandise, a pharmacy, deli, produce and groceries, would include 370 parking spaces and 13 handicapped spaces.

Once the application is complete, the Planning Board will review the project before sending its opinion to the Sarasota City Commission, which will review the application for final approval.

It could take approximately three months for the application to continue to make its way through the city process, and the Walmart could open as early as October 2013.

The store would be the second Walmart within city limits if it’s approved. A Walmart grocery store is being constructed now on the North Trail and is expected to open in October.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].