Mount Laurel approves new 'supercenter' Walmart

With little public objection, Mount Laurel has approved a 94,000-square-foot Walmart store on Fellowship Road. But before construction begins, the state and Burlington County must approve the developer's road-improvement plans.

Those plans include possible widening of Route 73 near the busy intersection and a long extension of the jughandle that loops onto Fellowship.

Just four residents spoke against the project at Thursday's planning board meeting before the board's unanimous approval. All expressed concerns about traffic, and some questioned the need for another Walmart when Cinnaminson and Evesham have the chain's stores.

Chris Norman, the board's attorney, said a municipality cannot discriminate against an applicant if its proposal meets zoning and building codes. Town engineers have called for speed bumps on Beaver and Oregon Avenues, as well as a system of retaining walls and one-directional turns in and around the site to promote smoother traffic flow.

Smaller than most Walmart stores, which typically range from 100,000 to 200,000 square feet, this "supercenter" will include a supermarket and a garden center, and operate 24 hours a day to allow late-night restocking of merchandise.

The developer, Mount Laurel Walmart L.L.C., originally proposed an 89,000-square-foot building when it came before the board last year, but in December asked to add 5,000 feet for loading docks and the garden center.

Walmart has modified the exterior to include natural materials and earth tones, and has added a glass atrium and sconces to "break down the scale of the box," a representative of the developer told the board last month.

The modifications would give a "downtown feel" to the site, which he called a "gateway to the community."

Walmart's consulting acoustic engineer also told the board that noise from the store, including air conditioners and trucks, would be "too quiet to hear" in homes surrounding the 22-acre site.

Although the project is in a redevelopment zone, Walmart will receive no tax abatement, said Norman, the board's attorney.

William C. Wertz, a regional spokesman for Walmart, said he did not know when construction would begin and would not know how much the store would pay in local property taxes until the store was built and assessed.