The Kenton County Planning Commission approved another parking lot expansion request this week for the Walmart Supercenter located on Valleyplaza Parkway in Fort Wright.
The move follows an earlier approval in June for an expansion. Although the square footage for the expansion is nearly double that of the initial request, the amount of spaces the lot will eventually contain will actually shrink.
The commission approved a preliminary development concept for an expansion of about 4,973 square feet to the building’s southeast corner in June. The expansion primarily aims to create an area where customers who have placed online orders can wait to pick them up.
The new request expands the area to 8,146 square feet, which, according to county documents, is “more in line with the most recent company standards.” As such, this would require additional changes to the parking area. Although this would increase the number of new pick-up and delivery spaces, the new concept plan would actually be a reduction of the total number of parking spaces approved in June, which itself called for a reduction of the store’s current 831 parking spaces.
The changes would reduce the overall number of parking spaces to 774, mostly to make room for the additional pick-up spaces, which will total 45 compared to the current 24. Two EV charging stations would also be installed for charging delivery vans. Attendant signage and road-striping are also included in the plan, as well as the demolition and replacement of a drive aisle along the side of the store.
Existing conditions Approved in June New proposed changes Total square feet 183,917 188,890 192,063 Building addition n/a 4,973 8,146 Total parking spaces 831 804 774 Total pick-up spaces 24 31 45 Legally required parking 614 630 640
The commission’s Park Hills’ Rep. Paul Ryan asked County Senior Planner Patrick Denbow why the company had requested an expansion only two months or so after the initial approval. Denbow didn’t know and deferred to the representative for the engineering firm in charge of carrying out the work, Tennessee-based firm Carlson Consulting, but he didn’t know either.
“I can’t really speak to that either,” said Jared Hutchinson of Carlson Consulting. “We were just kind of reached out to and said, ‘Hey, we want it this size.’ So, that’s really kind of all I know at this time, but it’s been a frequent occurrence for them to do that.”
In spite of this, the commissioners didn’t seem to have an issue with it.
“It’s still a relatively small proportion of the building there in the increase,” said Commission Chair Brian Dunham. “They still have plenty of excess parking. It’s going to better serve the customer and the people in the neighborhood. It’s totally appropriate for that type of use there. So, I have zero issues with it.”
“I know it doubles the size of the previously planned expansion,” said Fort Mitchell Rep. Jeff Bethell, “but compared to the overall facility, I don’t think it’s a big change.”
No members of the public weighed in on the issue at the meeting.
“Nobody seems to care,” said Bromley Rep. Gailen Bridges.
The approval passed unanimously.