Plan your Parking Strategy now..Cornelius Walmart ;)

Below is a detailed layout of the Walmart to be constructed, of the Site Overall. In the upper left hand corner you'll notice what appears to be an entrance...yes...however this will only be available to Emergency Vehicles only as the access crosses the Manufactured Homes of several Cornelius Residents. The entrance nearest to the Upper Right Hand Corner was the section of land previous reserved for the entrance to the future Residence plans...BEFORE these 16 acres were rezoned to Commercial Land for Walmart a few years ago. The entrance off of 4th Avenue is the middle-right section of the Picture indicated where the intersection of Barlow Ct & 4th Avenue take place...what is now a 3-way intersection will become a 4-way intersection for the Walmart...tricky part is where the new entrance is planned...there were Houses previously there...who knows how the Utilities situation is to be handled? I'm sure its somewhere buried amongst the 100's of pages of Blueprints. Also to note, they'll be a screening walls of sorts blocking the views of Semi-Trucks to the Forest Grove side of Residences and other partial walls along the North and East parameters. I've also indicated where the Large Sign and Coming Soon sign will be located. And of course the Detention Ponds for Stormwater as well.


Not indicated on this map are the 5-6 acres of lands to be developed for Storm Water removal...that utlimately makes its way safely to the Tualatin...some land due south of this map and west INTO Forest Grove School District territory will be utilized. ODOT and the Railroad people will be involved in these efforts too...because 36" pipe will need to be installed all to channel this future water. THIS HAS to wait until the end of the 2009-2010 school year however ~ June 2010.

Also, the amount of work that will be down to improve the roads of 4th Avenue and Adair to support the Walmart...sidewalks, stormwater installations, and the like.

The order and phases of the work is not well understood to me simply by looking at the plans...my guess is the sign permit pulled for the Coming Soon sign will come first.

Where the coming soon sign will be placed.

Be on the lookout for the "Future Home of Walmart" i.e. Coming Soon sign on the property by 4th/Adair. Where it gets placed will be right by the designed 'Adair entrance'.

We'll just have to wait and see

I spent a good amount of time looking over the drawings for the Walmart. One gets tired of looking at diagram after diagram, index after index...trying to imagine what everything would look like in 3D.

Quick summary: The layout will be pretty much the same as the Fred Meyer in Cornelius...the site will "face" east, the Garden Center will be closet to Adair, then the Home section, The Misc. Items, then The Grocery closest to the Northside of the Property. From those driving cars, they'll be 1 entrace from Adair, and 2 off of 4th Avenue, and 1 Emergency Only entrace on the NW end corner of the property. They'll be plenty of trees planted according to City rules, 2 Detention ponds for water run off and an interesting project that will dig up a stormwater removal system that will cross Adair/Baseline/and the P&W railroad to end up by a swale currently in place North of the Fern Hill School in Forest Grove land.

Others things worth noting:

• Subway (which is strange because there is a franchise just across the street in front of the Forest Grove Inn)
  
• Recycling Center
  
• Pharmacy
• Optical
• Can serve ~ 4,000 customers max at one time.
  

Super Walmart Update...All the details of the exact building you'd ever want & more

What's 6 feet tall (at a minimum) & 8 feet wide? Give up?

The proposed sign reading "Future Home of Walmart" at Adair/4th Avenue site. Be on the look out. I will be!

Also become familiar with the # 4221, because this will be the designation given to our Cornelius Walmart.

And it's future address is 220 N Adair St, Cornelius, OR, prepare to write your Welcome letters to the future staff & management...because I'm sure in 2010 and beyond you'll be seeing a lot of them.

I've recently come across the following site: http://www.bxwa.com/bxwa_toc/private/2408/rc1_wal_mart_supercenter_corne_89165/info.php

It contains every single detail of what the site will look like, plans for containing stormwater, the Subway that's planned, Eco-friendly roofing, you name it...you should be able to find it there. I'm big on planning, so I'll probably spent a considerable amount of time browsing through these 100's and 100's of pages...

Interesting Take on URR

Clark Gallagher, columnist for the Hillsboro Argus writes an inspiring piece on his take of Metro's ideology and an example of what can come of their "Eurocool" take on Land Use Planning.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/argus/clark_gallagher/index.ssf/2009/09/metro_shouldnt_try_to_be_euroc.html

Excerpts: 1. "...Metro believes one size fits all." 2. ",,,Metro looks like a restrictive land use eco-nerd on steroids. Unabashed, Metro's philosophy is growth should be up -- not out. Everybody should use bikes, light rail, buses, or walk to work. Cars should be discouraged. " 3. "Rural sensibilities [on the Metro Council] are rare. A no-growth attitude willing to push economic development north and south will hamper economic development...Trouble is communities like Cornelius take it on the chin in search for industrial land. That's tough to face when it comes to money to run schools and prop up infrastructure.

Plug: "To get [Metro's] attention you need to get involved in their upcoming public meetings. The only one in Hillsboro is between 2-4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21, at the Hillsboro Civic Center, Rooms 113B and C. Don't ask why they scheduled it in the middle of a work day. You can figure that out."

Great piece Clark, thanks for the support & new perspective!

Produce little Trash in your Household? Choose WILL CALL service

I recently received my Bill from Cornelius Disposal Service, Inc. (CDS) in the amount of $23.35, the same amount I'd been charged a monthly earlier for using the service every week during the month of July. However August was different...I hadn't taken out any trash, recycling, or yard debris..yet I was still being charged for a full month of service. Why? As it turns out one has to advice CDS before a vacation or times when no service will be requested. If one doesn't do this...you will be charged..understanding no 'actual service' was rendered.

Sounds fishy right? It was to me too. Considering in the past before the new 'fancy containers'...garbage men would log whether service was rendered or not, then charge appropriately.

I'm sorry to say I can't trust this company's policies, accounting, or business practice now. So check your bills...make sure they're accurate and watch for charges that misrepresent reality.

So regrettably I will pay this bill in full to avoid a future argument and making a bigger stink of this situation. Patron Beware!

Note: 'WILL CALL' can be requested. Apparently one can call CDS @ 503-357-3510 and request a day in advance to have Trash picked up during your usual Service Cycle.

Walmart Blowing More Smoke?

http://blog.oregonlive.com/hillsboroargus/2009/08/walmart_claim_draws_skepticism.html

In a recent article in the Hillsboro Argus they quote a Walmart spokesman claiming that soon they'll be out to bid for construction. The fact remains that city has given Walmart plenty of time/opportunity to keep their permits alive. The time runs out in January, at which time Walmart must show "considerable construction"...i.e. foundation at a minimum. The article highlights how this would be very costly given that the faithful rains of Oregon will be coming around in no time.

Good luck to Walmart with the "bids" and foundation processing, and hope that Cornelius doesnt have to restart the permits process with them. Walmart must know that they'll dealing with a very tiny and little to no budget city...and they may be taking advantage. Looking for the cheapest prices from builders, squeezing every last penny they can before they invest in construction.