Lowe's center could open by October 2011

<p>A proposed Lowe's shopping center in east Petaluma is on track to be addressed by the city in the coming months, with the project's developers working with city staff to bring the proposal to the Planning Commission in late summer.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>The Deer Creek shopping center, proposed for the empty lot off of North McDowell Boulevard and just south of Rainier Avenue, would include a Lowe's home improvement store as well as smaller restaurants, medical offices and other stores. The center's developer, Merlone Geier Partners of San Francisco, is currently working with the city's planning department on the environmental review portion of the project. </p><p>Although the shopping center's impacts are addressed in the city's General Plan, the city recently recommended that the company obtain further environmental review documents to account for the full impact of the center.</p><p>“We made the decision in conjunction with the city to get an EIR (environmental impact report),” said Mike Grehl, a partner with Merlone Geier. “We're operating with an abundance of caution. We want to make sure that the CEQA (California Environ-mental Quality Act) process stands up against a legal challenge and we want to assure the community that traffic will be addressed in the plan.”</p><p>“The city identified that the North McDowell and Corona intersection would be impacted,” said Derek Farmer, senior planner with Metropolitan Planning Group, the city's planning department.</p><p>Farmer said that the city's General Plan accounts for the impacts of a large shopping center at the site, although the current proposal's size is “less than the use-density specified in the General Plan.” There-fore, a full environmental impact report is not needed, but the decision was made to get a partial “impact-specific” environmental review be-cause of the additional traffic impacts at that intersection.</p><p>Once environmental review documents are completed, they will go back to the city for internal review and then go through a 45-day public review period, said Farmer. The project should start to be addressed by the Planning Commission in late summer. Lowe's hopes to open in October 2011, said Grehl.</p><p>An independent study commissioned by Merlone Geier claims that the 120,000-square-foot shopping center would create 500 permanent jobs and would generate almost $1 million per year in tax revenue. About $9 million would be paid to the city in development impact fees to fund infrastructure.</p><p>Although no stores have signed a lease, Grehl said that “Lowe's is extremely committed to the project.”</p><p>“The property's design and architecture has drawn interest from a vast array of businesses,” he added.</p><p>The project's current design includes pedestrian and open-space areas, jogging and biking paths, and a dog park. A pharmacy, fitness club, bank and restaurants are likely tenants, according to preliminary design maps.</p><p>(Contact Philip Riley at philip.riley@arguscourier.com)</p>