Menards gets OK for new site

The city's famous Oasis cow will mosey down the road to graze in the middle of a new roundabout on Morse Street.

Morse Street will be extended to the new Menards. Once fully developed, that complex could bring to the city as much as $800,000 a year in new real estate taxes, a local developer told council members Monday.

The council gave the final OK to the development when it approved zoning and vacated easements. The plan commission already had OK'd a conditional-use permit.

The new development will sit on 31 acres at Milton Avenue and Interstate 90/39.

Developers will demolish the Ramada Inn, the Oasis Restaurant and Motel and the Road Ranger gas station. All billboards will be taken down, and the pond will be filled for a parking lot, said Brad Cantrell, director of community development.

Detention ponds to the north and south will handle storm water.

Menards will be 162,000-square feet with 400 parking spaces in the front. Brick facades will face Milton Avenue and the Interstate.

Fencing will surround storage.

Cantrell said other commercial uses such as hotels and restaurants could locate on the site.

"I believe it's a very good project, a rare opportunity for the city to support and facilitate a major redevelopment of this scale," Cantrell said. "The area is a visible entry into the city."

Developer Terry McGuire estimated an increase of $800,000 in real estate taxes per year after the site is fully developed.

After Menards moves to its new site, the existing Menards "presents a beautiful opportunity for redevelopment and a chance to address traffic issues at Pontiac," he added.

Developer Tom Lasse, 2846 N. River Bluff, said developers hope to put the Oasis cow in the middle of the new roundabout.

"Keeping the cow was important to us," he said.

The existing left turn out of the nearby Target development at the Kwik Trip and Milton Avenue became a major issue as the project progressed.

Jeffrey Woodman, whose family owns the land, said Monday that the businesses depend on customers having easy access to the north.

The turn will remain open for now, but city staff have warned that it will likely close as traffic increases.

Woodman also wanted the frontage road in front of Kwik Trip extended to Morse.

But Cantrell said the city already has problems along Milton Avenue because access roads are too close.

The plan commission instead put the road to link the Target and Menards developments between the Target strip mall and the Kwik Trip.

Woodman offered to give the right-of-way so Menards could build the road but only with a guarantee that the left turn would remain open.

City Manager Steve Sheiffer said the city couldn't negotiate long-term guarantees that deal with public rights-of-ways and safety.

Woodman said he worries that when the left turn is closed, customers will have to go to Bell Street and then Highway 14 to get to Milton Avenue and north.

"Our business will decline, and we're going to foot the bill on top of it," Woodman said.

Costs for the road are estimated at $25,000.

"We're pro-business, but not at the expense of other businesses."

Councilman Greg Addie was the only member to vote "no" on the rezoning and release of easements because he said the Menards developers should shoulder the cost of the road.