By Jason Busch

of the Times

MONROE -- When the time comes, everyone will be informed.

Seeking to allay concerns from Monroe township officials about the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter development, City Administrator Mark Vahlsing assured township board members during Wednesday's City/Town of Monroe Joint Extraterritorial Zoning (ETZ) Committee that they'd be among the first to know if a large-scale retailer submits a planned unit development (PUD) application.

"I just want to underline the word 'application,'" Vahlsing said. "Wal-Mart approached the city before and gave us some land use plans. But they have not filed a PUD application yet because of the moratorium.

"I'd like it if we don't ever refer to Wal-Mart and instead just refer to large-scale retail (LSR)," Vahlsing continued. "And it's very possible we may get one or more applications for LSR (once the moratorium is lifted in early July)."

Vahlsing said based on the committee's discussions, it's clear city and township officials want to keep retail and industry located near the entrance corridors to the city and not further into the township.

However, regardless of where an LSR developer has plans of locating, Vahlsing said if the city gets a PUD application he will put it on the ETZ Committee's agenda for discussion.

'"I just want to keep the lines of communication open and keep you in the loop" he said.

Committee facilitator Sarah Shoemaker of Vierbicher Associates, Inc. hopes the ETZ Committee's work will weigh heavily on the city's decisions, should a large-scale retailer choose to locate inside the city's 1.5 mile ETZ.

"And if the city just wants to annex and annex and annex (township land), just let us know," township clerk Karen Sutter said. "It would be a shame but we'd rather know (before reading it in the newspaper)."

Thankfully, Shoemaker said, the city's recently adopted LSR ordinance makes the developer address a lot of the township officials' concerns, such as leaving behind empty storefronts and the overall economic impact of a new store in or near the city on the city's other retailers.

Jason Busch can be reached at

jbusch@themonroetimes.com