Lakewood – A proposal to build a 138,000-square-foot Sam’s Club wholesale outlet near Pinehurst Country Club drew a standing-room-only audience to the Lakewood Planning Commission hearing Wednesday night.
While commission members said their intent was to make a decision last night, at least 40 people were waiting to speak at 9:30 p.m., after the developers and city staff offered presentations in support of the rezoning.
The facility would replace a 102,000- square-foot Sam’s Club about three blocks away on South Wadsworth Boulevard in Denver.
City officials said the relocation would add 28 Sam’s Club jobs, for a total of 135. The facility would become one of Lakewood’s top five employers, providing an estimated $1.7 million in sales tax annually to a city looking to cut its budget by $12.5 million over two years.
But the financial gains aren’t worth the costs for many residents. They worry about the effects of traffic, safety, drainage, noise and trash, as well as incompatibility with the area’s upscale homes on large lots. Twelve Lakewood and Denver homeowner associations, representing 500 homes, oppose the project at 7205 W. Quincy Ave.
“The development is too large and commercial for the site,” said Sandra Payne, who lives south of the project. “No matter how decorative, any big box does threaten the character of the area.”
Dr. Wayne Bosch said city leaders need “to think beyond three or four fiscal years and think about a legacy for our community of three or four generations.”
Lakewood City Manager Mike Rock made a rare appearance before the commission, asking that members put aside the “great deal of emotion around this project” and decide the rezoning on the proposal’s merits.
The developer will provide $4 million in required public improvements, city staff said.
Staff writer Ann Schrader can be reached at 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
