Farm & Fleet store moves closer to reality

The Blain’s Farm & Fleet store slated for Grafton moved closer to reality after five  conditional-use permits were approved by the village Plan Commission Tuesday.

The permits allow for indoor sales and service, drive-through and in-vehicle sales, vehicle and small engine repair and service, auto-related sales and outdoor enclosed storage.

Commission member Heidi Ham said  after the vote that she is happy the empty Shopko building will be put to good use.

“I believe that this is going to be a great asset to the Grafton community,” she said.

Farm & Fleet announced its plans to open a location in Grafton, renovating the former Shopko building on the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Falls Road, in late June and is developing final plans for the property.

The store will feature an automotive service center, full drive-through area and small-engine repair center and sell clothing, footwear, tools and hardware, paint, home goods, pet products and gardening supplies.

In addition to using the 94,500 square-foot Shopko building, Farm & Fleet plans to add an additional 11,000 square feet of building space for an auto center, shipping and receiving space and customer entrance.

The family-owned, Janesville-based company has also submitted plans to construct a 66,000-square-foot enclosed outdoor area, where customers can pick up orders from their vehicles.

Although no residents spoke against the business itself, some neighbors of the property expressed concerns about planned expansions.

To make room for its enclosed canopy area, Farm & Fleet plans to extend the northeast part of the parking lot closer to the property line near the Ozaukee Interurban Trail, eliminating a berm and a wooded area.

Mike Mortal, who lives north of the building, asked Farm & Fleet representatives to consider maintaining the original footprint of the building to keep the berm, which serves as a visual barrier between his home and the building parking lot.

“That was put in 30 years ago when Shopko originally built there,” he said. “My neighbors and I asked for that to be put in and now they’re going to remove that.”

Neighbor Bob Meyer also expressed concerns about the expansion and said he is worried a fence planned to separate the parking lot and Ozaukee Interurban Trail would be unsightly.

Farm & Fleet representative Sara Iverson Smith said the parking lot expansion is necessary to allow delivery trucks adequate space to maneuver. The fence, she added, will be of high quality.      

Some residents also expressed concerns about an increase in traffic due to the new store, but a traffic study conducted by raSmith in Cedarburg concluded the area would not be negatively effected by business operations.

Village President Jim Brunnquell said Farm & Fleet’s use of the building will differ little from Shopko’s operation and the area was designed to allow for traffic flow.

“This is a very similar use to what was there before,” he said.

Besides a number of small additions to the building plan that need to be made — such as including bike racks and propane tank containers — Farm & Fleet will need to acquire a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals to opt out of a village green space requirement.

After the variance is approved, the site plan will also require approval.

The village requires new businesses to maintain 25% of a parking lot as green space whereas the Farm & Fleet proposal only has about 16%.

Iverson Smith said the company hopes to break ground by spring 2022.

Blain’s Farm & Fleet was founded in 1955 and currently has 43 stores in Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and Iowa. It also plans to open a location in Rhinelander at the same time as Grafton.