Port Elgin residents will soon see the first brick of the new Wal-Mart Super Store being laid.
Saugeen Shores Council agreed to a Site Plan Agreement for the 115 thousand square foot retail store located on the south end of town.
Josh Kaufman — Director of Land Development for Shoreline Shopping Centres — was in attendance at last night’s meeting.
There had been a pre-servicing agreement in place that saw the clearing and rough grading of lands.
Kaufman says the Site Plan Agreement now gives them the ability to do more of the hard surfaces above ground such as paving and landscaping.
He expects to get that going within the next few months once they get their building permit.
There has been debate from Councillors as to what colour the exterior of the store should be.
An OMB settlement with one appellant calls for the store to have a green sign.
Kaufman says he prefers the more brown-ish earthtone colour since it blends in more with the surroundings.
He says more new stores are adopting those colours and moving away from the original battleship blue colour.
The recent implementation of development charges by Saugeen Shores doesn’t seem to bother Kaufman.
He says you have to look at where they are in the process having taken three years to get to this point.
He says he would prefer to move forward rather than having to argue with the Town over development charges.
Kaufman says they have a 24-week building schedule ahead of them and hopes to have the building up by the end of November.
He anticipates the training of staff after that with the store opening at the end of the year or the beginning of 2009 but most certainly not before Christmas.
