Woodman’s plans huge grocery store in Grafton

The Village of Grafton has received an application for annexation from Woodman’s Markets for 26 acres in the Town of Grafton between Port Washington Road and I-43 north of Costco and south of Arrowhead Road, Community Development Director Gabe Gilbertson said Tuesday.

The grocery store chain in the last week also submitted a certified survey map and site plan, he said.

Gilbertson said the proposed development would include a 245,000-square-foot “traditional food market” and two separate out buildings — a 3,000-square-foot convenience store and gas station and a 4,800-square-foot drive-through car wash.

The car wash and convenience store would operate as separate businesses.

Gilbertson called the development “very significant.”

“It’s one of the largest remaining commercial properties in the area,” he said. “A regional grocery store will be a great addition to the Port Washington Road corridor.”

He said he expects the matter to go before the village Plan Commission on Sept. 22 and the Village Board in October.

It will be a while before a timeline can be developed for the project, if it is approved, as the project has to go through various reviews.

“We just got the application and we’re just starting to take a closer look at it. This is the first time the village has seen it,” he said. “It’s going to take some time.”

In April, the state Department of Resources approved permitting for two  acres of wetlands where Woodman’s is proposing to build.

Woodman’s is an employee-owned supermarket chain founded in 1919 in Janesville and currently has 20 stores in Wisconsin and Illinois.

According to its website, Woodman’s stores average 230,000 square feet, which would make the Grafton store one of the chain’s largest.

To accommodate the development, Port Washington Road will be widened from the Aurora Medical Center and Costco intersection north to Arrowhead Road, Gilbertson said.

Traffic lights are expected to be installed at the southern end of the Woodman’s development and at another not-yet-determined location, he said.

Another vacant parcel lies between Costco and Woodman’s. Gilbertson said he has had no conversations on developing that parcel.

Village officials have approached Ozaukee County about a cost-sharing agreement to widen Port Washington Road, which doubles as County Highway W, and install traffic lights.

The cost-sharing agreement would be similar to one used to widen Port Washington Road south of Highway 60 to accommodate the Meijer grocery store development, Gilbertson and county Public Works Director Jon Edgren said,

The road project would be financed by state grants that would cover 80% of the cost and the county and village splitting the 20% local share.

The county would take over maintenance of the road and traffic lights after construction.

No cost estimate exists yet for the road project.

A traffic impact analysis is currently underway and will be presented to both the village and the county, Edgren said.

That study will help determine where the second traffic light will go, Gilbertson said.