Jere Downs

LCJ

Walmart is sticking to its plan to put a suburban-style supercenter in the West End with a massive surface parking lot, rather than putting the store up against the street as it has in other urban areas and as Louisville building regulations would require.

The retailer has amended its plan slightly, adding a broad sidewalk across the massive parking lot planned for Broadway.

A town meeting has been called by local residents for 6 p.m. Friday at the West Chestnut Street Baptist Church to ask Louisville Metro officials to abide by regulations that require the store be located on the street to promote foot and bus traffic in the neighborhood.

"This is unacceptable. We are putting a flag in the ground and trying to make a fight," said Haven Harrington, author of the Urban Louisville blog and president of the Concerned Association of Russell Residents, a neighborhood group. "We still want an urban Walmart."

In densely-populated, resurgent neighborhoods as varied as Washington, D.C., and Knoxville, Tennessee, Walmart has been erecting stores with parking underground or in the rear to preserve density and improve the environment in older neighborhoods, according to Ed McMahon, who studies big box retail development at the Urban Land Institute in Washington.

In an urban setting, Louisville's Land Development Code requires locating buildings as close as possible to the edge of the sidewalk so pedestrians, bus riders or bicyclists can move safely and easily and to improve air quality.

Corner lots, like Walmart's location at Dixie Highway and Broadway, are especially important because it will dominate the look and feel of the block. The corner intersects two of TARC's heaviest bus routes and local retailers estimate 50 percent of shoppers arrive by bus or on foot.

"That corner is important not just to the West End but important to the city and the history of Louisville," said Stephen Porter, who is advocating for urban design on behalf of OPEN Louisville, a nonprofit group dedicated to sustainable development. "If we put a suburban Walmart 400 feet back from the street, that's not part of the livability of our city. Broadway can be, and should be, like Frankfort Avenue or Bardstown Road."

Walmart's latest plan seeks a variance from 2006 city planning regulations and envisions a sidewalk nine feet wide that resembles one at the chain's store in the Bashford Manor Shopping Center in Buechel.

"The building cannot be located closer to the adjacent streets," Walmart planner Pov Chin said in notes to Walmart's revised application. Walmart spokeswoman Erica Jones did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday.

The pedestrian walkway was suggested by Louisville Metro senior planner Joe Reverman, who also asked that the retailer seek other means to honor the spirit of Louisville's Land Development Code. The Louisville Metro Board of Zoning Adjustment will have the final say on design and no public hearings have been scheduled, Louisville Metro Planning & Design Services spokeswoman Jessica Wethington said Tuesday.

Jere Downs can be reached at (502) 582-4669, Jere Downs on Facebook and @jeredowns on Twitter.

Walmart community meeting

What: Community forum about the West End Walmart

When: 6 p.m., Friday

Where: West Chestnut Street Baptist Church gymnasium, 1725 West Chestnut Street

Who: The event is sponsored by the African American Think Tank, a West End nonprofit, Concerned Assoc. of Russell Residents, among other groups.