Urbana Meijer

Urbana CIty Councilwoman Lynne Barnes does an EXCELLENT job keeping citizens aware of local developments through occasional emails to residents who have asked to be included on her email list. About once a month I receive on of those emails. Tonight  she shared good information about the future Meijer development in Urbana. The entire email follows, so keep reading:

Hi everyone, in a prior email I had stated that we had hoped to have a meeting with Meijer officials in order to find out more about their plans and to ask questions.   Our city staff requested such a meeting and Meijer officials have responded that while they would be willing to address specific concerns by phone with either me or Heather (as city council members), at this time they are not willing to meet with us.  In light of this I asked the city staff to provide to me detailed information about what Meijer's plans are, addressing several of the areas many of you have inquired about.  I think that Meijer feels they have already worked hard to address concerns by working with our staff.  I understand their perspective and see their need to move forward without further additions or changes or added cost.   And, I believe from what I read below our city staff has represented us well and Meijer has been attentive to community needs.  I am sorry the meeting couldn't be arranged and hope this information will help allay any concerns.   If you do have specific concerns that are unanswered here or ideas you believe need to be put forward, please let me know. Meijer provided me with a contact name and number if needed.

The following is some general information on the proposed Meijer store development to be constructed on the northeast corner of Windsor and Philo Roads in Urbana.

Size and type of development: 31 acres which includes a 20 acre site for the Meijer store and 8 additional outlots of roughly one acre each for additional development. The eight outlots all front on Philo and Windsor Roads. The two known developments will be a Meijer grocery store (207,000 sq. ft.) and a Meijer convenience store /gas station (2,600 sq. ft.) on the corner of Philo and Windsor Roads. The Meijer store will include a garden center and a pharmacy. The entire property is zoned B-3, General Business District, which allows for a range of retail, services, and offices. No rezoning is necessary for this development to occur.

Timeline: Meijer has indicated they would like to have their store open by the late spring of 2008.

Jobs: Meijer has indicated they will employ some 500 workers.

Building orientation and setback: The Meijer store will face Philo Road and set back approximately 660 feet from the Philo Road right-of-way. To the rear, the Meijer store would be set back approximately 60 feet from their east property line. This allows a 20 foot wide fire emergency lane around the rear of the building plus a 40 foot wide landscaped berm area to help buffer the homes immediately behind their proposed store. The Meijer building will be approximately 210 feet from Amber Lane.

Landscaping and berms: The site will be well landscaped. Earthen berms with extensive landscaping will be installed around the entire perimeter of the 31 acre site, including in front of the convenience store at the corner of Philo and Windsor Roads. In all, more than 200 trees and some 330 bushes will be planted, plus extensive areas planted with prairie grass. Each entryway into the site will have decorative planter beds. The earthen berm along the east property line, closest to homes, will be approximately 40 feet wide and from the homeowners' side will vary in eight from about seven feet on the north to three feet high on the south. A mixture of shade trees and evergreens will be planted along this berm.

Traffic: The City has just completed improvements to Philo Road in front of the Meijer store site. A portion of Windsor Road, essentially along the Meijer site frontage, will be widened and improved in 2007. The remainder of Windsor Road will be improved in 2009 and 2010. The entire 31 acre site will be served by six driveways with two each on Windsor Road, Philo Road, and Amber Lane. The existing drive entryway on Amber Lane, at the northeast corner of the site closest to Lydia Court, will be removed and curbing installed. Meijer is coordinating closely with the Illinois Department of Transportation and the City of Urbana to insure that anticipated traffic is handled as smoothly as possible. Three traffic signals are proposed: Windsor Rd./Boulder Dr., Windsor Rd./Philo Rd., Philo Rd./Scovill St.

Pedestrian and bicycle access: The Meijer development will have sidewalks all along Amber Lane and Philo Road, as well as a shared use path (bicycles and pedestrians) along Windsor Road. Additionally, two sidewalks will be built from the roadways to the front door of the Meijer store -- from both Windsor Road and Amber Lane. A third, accessory sidewalk will get patrons from Philo Road onto the Meijer property. Bicycle racks will be installed.

Parking:  All necessary parking  will be provided onsite. The Meijer store will provide 1,033 parking spaces which will  be located  principally in front of the store but behind the outlots and buffered by the landscaped perimeter berms. Meijer will not have any parking area fronting directly along any street.

Noise, trash, and lights: According to a Meijer representative, the vast majority of deliveries to the store will take place between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. They say they are sensitive to this issue and will strive to make deliveries at other times an exception. The store will have rooftop heating and cooling units, but rather than having one large unit, which generates more noise and vibration, there will be multiple, smaller units.  In terms of trash and recycling, this will be taken care of indoors. For instance, there will be no outside cardboard compactors. Meijer says they plan not to have any outdoor activity or storage behind their store. In terms of lights, outdoor lighting will have cut off fixtures to direct light downward and minimize light spillover onto neighboring properties.

Stormwater: In terms of stormwater, when the Windsor and Philo Rd. area was initially developed some years ago, future development of the Meijer site was anticipated and construction of stormwater pipes were then installed. Stormwater runoff will be handled in retention ponds now existing to the east, and Meijer will not be building new retention ponds.

Signage: Meijer has agreed to install a lower monument-type store sign rather than one mounted on a pole. Meijer will have two free-standing, monument signs -- one each on Philo and Windsor Roads -- as well as two Meijer signs on the building. Signs will not be oriented towards Amber Lane.

As a East Urbana resident, I'm glad to see more stores coming to our side of town (I can't tell you how excited I am that there will be a Menards less than a minute from my front door!). Any other thoughts on development in Urbana?