Walmart's Timetable for Coming to Menifee on Slow Track

A Walmart Supercenter planned for this site on Scott Road and Haun Road might not be built for another three years or more. Menifee 24/7 photo: Doug Spoon

Walmart officials are continuing with plans to build two stores in Menifee, but neither project will be breaking ground any time soon.

According to a source familiar with the negotiations between Walmart and the City of Menifee, Walmart officials plan to wait until after the reconstruction of the Scott Road freeway interchange before moving ahead with plans for the South Menifee Supercenter. That interchange, which waits in line behind the current Newport Road interchange project, isn't expected to begin construction until the summer of 2017 and probably wouldn't be completed for more than a year after that.

Meanwhile, there has been "no movement" in the North Walmart store project, for which Walmart purchased land on McCall Boulevard on the east side of Interstate 215, according to one source. Walmart has submitted revised plans for that project more than once, but none have progressed far enough through the City planning department to be forwarded to the Planning Commission for consideration, the source said.

In 2011, 76 percent of Menifee voters approved a ballot measure allowing the 205,000-square-foot Walmart Supercenter to be built on a 30-acre site on Scott Road between Haun Road and the freeway -- a complex that would include other businesses. A lawsuit filed to stop the project was dismissed by a Riverside County Court judge in July 2013, giving Walmart officials the go-ahead to continue with plans.

Concerns were raised, however, over access to the center over an already crowded Scott Road freeway bridge, which has only one lane each way. A $52 million project would add lanes to the bridge and improve freeway on- and off-ramps.

Meanwhile, Walmart spokeswoman Delia Garcia said plans to eventually build the Walmart Supercenter have not changed.

"We are excited to become a part of the Menifee community and provide residents increased shopping options at Walmart’s Everyday Low Prices," Garcia said in an email to Menifee 24/7. "We are working through the permitting process for the South Menifee Supercenter that will be located at Scott Road and Haun Road, as well as working with the City and other agencies to develop a timeline for the store’s construction. We look forward to opening this store, which was overwhelmingly supported by the community when residents voted in favor of it."