MARIBEL LOPEZ STAFF WRITER
Fareway Store officials are planning to build a new store just north of their current store on Bremer Avenue.
Fareway is buying four homes in the 200 block of First Avenue Northwest and will tear them down to make way for the new store. The store will be almost twice as big as their current building.
Ben Kohout, community development and zoning official, said Fareway has been in contact with Waverly for about a year in regards to the expansion and finding a suitable location.
“Their intent was to stay downtown, which is a good thing, because in these economic times, for a business to stay downtown is always good,” said Kohout.
Construction of the new store is scheduled to begin in March. Once the new store is finished, the existing store will then be demolished and the property will then be turned into additional parking.
At a planning and zoning meeting on Oct. 1, the rezoning of the residential properties into a commercial district brought up concerns regarding area school buses and traffic patterns, as well as flooding issues because the area is in a flood plain.
Kohout said flood prevention measures will be included when constructing the building and traffic will not be negatively affected.
Property owners in the area have been notified and a public hearing has been set for Nov. 5.
For this new location to be finalized, three council readings will take place following the public hearing, but Kohout said that there has been very little negative feedback about the project.
“There have been very good questions,” said Kohout. “I think folks in Waverly and specifically northwest Waverly are very comfortable with the Fareway Store location.
“I think they’re happy to see that Fareway is willing to invest more money to stay in Waverly at the downtown location as opposed to moving further on the outskirts of town.”