While a meeting seeking community input on Walmart's potential move from Abingdon to Bel Air was advertised in The Aegis this week, Harford County Pllanning and Zoning had no record of such a meeting as of Monday.
The meeting will be held July 19 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at , according to a legal advertisement posted online and in Friday's editon of the paper.
"The purpose of this meeting is for the Applicant to provide information to the community regarding the proposed commercial development (including draft plans for the site layout), and to allow citizens to ask questions and make comments and suggestions," the ad states.
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In March of 2011, Walmart representatives told Patch the store was considering to the 33.7-acre lot at the intersection of Maryland Route 924 and Plumtree Road in Bel Air.
Based on preliminary discussions, Walmart planned to build a superstore at the new location and sell the current building located in , a Walmart employee told Patch last year.
The plan was met with backlash from the community, with residents along the Route 924 corridor holding meetings and expressing opposition to .
Pete Gutwald, Harford County's director of planning and zoning, told Patch Monday that Walmart had not yet submitted any such meeting information to his department.
"They haven’t submitted anything officially to us," Gutwald said.
Gutwald said he is aware of the advertisement and expects to see something come from Walmart within the next few days. He added developers are required to advertise a specific number of times before an input meeting takes place and that may be why the advertisement appeared before Harford County knew about the meeting.
"They only have to tell us two weeks before the date," Gutwald said, later adding, "It’s conceptual I’m sure at this point."
The reason for the proposed move is a restriction on selling a full line of groceries at Walmart's Constant Friendship Boulevard location, Gutwald said in a previous interview. A land deal that expires in 2018 restricts businesses in the area from selling groceries, meaning Walmart could expand the existing location into a superstore in about six years instead of moving.
A Wegmans recently from Walmart. A earlier this year.
Would you support a Walmart in this new location? Why or why not? Leave a comment.
Too much traffic in Harford county and too much road work needed and not enough money to pay for it all. What happens to the old Walmart building? I'm sure another box store will take its place and bring in more traffic. I don't see them tearing down that building and putting up a greenspace. Maybe a new casino will be put there. Oh no I think the fix is in. Maybe they could leave a few trees up for us country people.
This was to be done at their expense! Well the good folks in Constant Freindship won the day. Now we have an interchange paid for by the county and state revenues (taxes) and a almost certainty of developing of the current site into something originally planned. Now the property being addressed actually has nothing to do with farmland. It is an island of brambles that is actually hazardous to wildlife. If you don't bel;ieve that, check out the road kill on both 24 and 924 tomorrow morning. As for schools and kids jumping from their classes to go to Walmart? C'mon use common sense. They don't have their parents paying for what ever they want....
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