The front elevation rendering of the proposed Menards building in Scio Township. Only a portion of the store is shown.
Courtesy of Menards
The Wisconsin-based company wants to build a roughly 160,000-square-foot store on a vacant property known as the former Farmer Grant land on the corner of Jackson and Staebler roads.
Menards plans to purchase 62 acres of the 165-acre site, and the store would occupy about 1/3 of the purchased property.
The site plan shows the Menards store would be set back from Jackson Road, with a parking lot in the front and a warehouse behind the store. The company could then sell four outlot properties that would result in additional development surrounding the store.
“We are looking for some complementary retail-commercial uses that would benefit from our traffic generation and provide some additional customer traffic for Menards as well,” said Menards spokesman Tom O’Neil via email.
Menards' Scio Township site plan shows the four outlot redevelopment areas in green. (The outlot on the right is partially cut off)
Lizzy Alfs | AnnArbor.com
Plans include two access ways off Jackson Road and one off Staebler. A traffic light is proposed at the westernmost access way on Jackson.
Menards — a privately owned company with about 270 stores in 14 states — has tried to enter the Washtenaw County market for years, including when Pittsfield Township voted to deny Menards’ rezoning request to build on Carpenter Road in 2010.
In early 2012, the company submitted a rezoning request for the Scio Township property, followed by a conditional use permit request. Site plan approval is the final step before the company can move forward with the project.
Scio Township’s Planning Commission will consider the site plan proposal at its 7 p.m. meeting on Monday, April 8.
Lizzy Alfs is a business reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2584 or email her at lizzyalfs@annarbor.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lizzyalfs.