A proposed 160,000-square- foot Wegmans supermarket in Columbia was approved in a 4-1 vote by a reluctant Howard County Planning Board, but store officials still face several appeals filed by a food workers union.
The two-story store - nearly triple the size of most area supermarkets - and an adjoining two-story garage would be built on 12.2 acres at the southwest corner of Snowden River Parkway and McGaw Road, opposite Apple Ford in east Columbia. Parking on the site would total 939 spaces, according to testimony.
The Wegmans, which store officials say they hope to build by late next year, would strengthen the challenge to the dominance of Giant and Safeway chains in Howard County. A Trader Joe's store opened recently nearby in the Gateway Overlook big-box center, and a Harris Teeter store is due to open this year in the Kings Contrivance Village Center.
Before their vote Thursday night, several board members appeared to be troubled by complaints at a hearing Jan. 3 and in written testimony that a traffic study done for the huge store was inadequate.
"If we were kings, we would change the rules right now, but we can't," board Chairman Tammy J. Citaramanis said.
Board member Linda Dombrowski said before the vote, "Our hands are tied."
A third member, David Grabowski, said of the board's dilemma, "We've given the development community a set of criteria, and they've met it."
All three, along with Gary Rosenbaum, voted to approve the site development plan for the store and the adjoining two-story parking garage. Ramsay Alexander Jr. voted against it without explanation.County planners determined in December that the store's traffic study and road improvement plans met the county's requirements, taking that issue out of the board's purview.
The board withheld approval of a height waiver for a 92-foot-high clock tower at the store, because the site, which contains a 35-year-old warehouse last used as a location for the HBO series The Wire, was not posted with a public notice.
After the vote, Wegmans attorney Richard Talkin thanked the board, but the issue is far from resolved.
Tim Goin, vice president and legislative director for United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 27, which represents workers at Giant and Safeway stores, said after the vote, "We will appeal."
