Photo Courtesy of Google Maps
Walmart is slated for the south east corner of Archibald & Limonite.

By Michael Armijo Eastvale- Walmart is still scheduled to come to Eastvale, but plans are still in the preliminary planning phase. If approved, it will be built in the South East corner of Archibald and Limonite, according to city officials. “Walmart has submitted a preliminary application to the planning dept. for a site,” said City Officials. “This is in the very preliminary planning phases and will still need to go through the Planning Commission and City Council.” According to Mayor Ike Bootsma, environmental impact reports (EIR) still need to be completed, and the planning commission needs to review and approve. “This could bring over $1 million in sales tax revenue to the city,” said Mayor Bootsma. “Residents will have an opportunity to review plans and offer opinions at City Council meetings before the project breaks ground.” According to local reports, this Walmart will be a 24-hour Super Walmart around 177k square feet, improvements will be made to area roads for accessibility, other tenants will occupy the location with Walmart being the only large anchor store, the building will be a “Green Store,” a part of their environmental plan to boost energy efficiency, cut down on waste and reduce greenhouse gases tied to global warming, which will be considered a nationwide “pilot store.” “Walmart purchased the property and they came to the City of Eastvale and asked for an application to build,” said Eastvale’s City Manager Carol Jacobs. “So this was all initiated by Walmart. Some cities make it an effort to try to draw Walmart to them, then they usually ask the city for money to help build the store, with the promise of sales tax revenue in return. According to city officials, Walmart has not asked for anything and the city has not offered anything. “They are going to need to do some environmental work, a general plan and zoning amendments,” says City manager Carol Jacobs.” Though Walmart and Sam’s Club regularly build in close proximity of each other, Jacobs says this location will be strictly a Walmart. This process will take about 10 months, and then it will be presented to the City Council. If approved by all necessary agents, Walmart believes it will open in 2014, according to Jacobs.