- | The Virginia Gazette YORK – 29 acres between Williamsburg Ford and Great Wolf Lodge are in play for a 150,000-square-foot retail store.Planning documents indicate a single retail store along Rochambeau Drive and a 4,700-square-foot gas station with six pumps on 23 acres that are already zoned Economic Opportunity.
The documents filed this week indicate the store would be a wholesale retailer such as Sam’s Club, BJs or Costco. The proximity to Wal-Mart suggests Sam’s Club, although the traffic study used Costco as a model.
That would rub salt in the wound for James City County, which has resisted big-box stores but has to suffer their road traffic.
The business is projected to employ 200-300 employees at an average wage of $17 an hour and bring in around $125 million in sales worth millions to York County.
Property owner Alex Perkins said that because of a non-disclosure agreement he cannot reveal the retailer. He would retain ownership of six acres with the intention of selling them as out-parcels.
“We have not officially signed the contract but we have been given a nod by a major retailer,” he said.
The sale of the land is contingent on the approval of the special use permit and whether the site budget shakes out in favor of the retailer.
“The president of the company has given us the nod that they are going to move forward with it as long as all the budget numbers makes sense,” Perkins said.
Earlier this year the York supervisors denied an application to timber the property because no site plans had been filed.
Perkins said the application was not so much about timbering the land for profit as it was about getting the property ready for formal site preparations. With the new special use permit, the plans to timber the site are moot.
The property has a tributary stream along the southeastern property line, which feeds into the Waller Mill Reservoir. The area is within the county’s watershed management and protection area and a 200-foot buffer would be required along the stream.
The City of Williamsburg, which owns the reservoir, has fought any development near the watershed for fear of runoff contamination.
City manager Jack Tuttle said that he is concerned about the possibility of a gas station going in near the watershed.
“We want to watch development in the watershed,” Tuttle said. “We’re certainly concerned about any hazardous materials that could leak into the reservoir.”
The application is scheduled to go before the Planning Commission next month.
Filed under: General Area Information Hampton Roads Virginia, Real Estate information, Rezoning or Development | Tagged: retailers williamsburg va, williamsburg costco sams club, williamsburg virginia real estate agent | 3 Comments »
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