Waukee’s first Walmart is moving closer to final approval despite concerns raised by both residents and neighboring businesses, including Hy-Vee.
The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday, Aug. 11, approved the site plan for the more than 182,000-square-foot Walmart Supercenter at 1165 E Hickman Road, which would include a pharmacy, gas station and automotive service center.
The plan now goes to the Waukee City Council, which could vote as soon as Monday.
Clive residents whose homes border the property directly to the north and representatives of Hy-Vee, which has a supermarket across NE Alice’s Road to the west, voiced their concerns about the plans Tuesday, including the extra traffic it could generate at the already busy NE Alice’s-Hickman intersection.
“I don’t know if this is the right area” for a Walmart, Clive resident Lynne Seashore told the commission.
Seashore’s concerns include whether the buffer of existing trees, even with additions around the edge of the property, would be enough, especially in the winter, to keep out noise from store operations such as the automotive service center.
She said her family had assumed future development around their home would be restaurants.
“How many grocery stores do we need?” she asked.
Hy-Vee representative questions traffic study that used 2023 data
A representative of one of those grocery stores, Hy-Vee, shared concerns about the project’s traffic study.
Phil Hoey, Hy-Vee’s vice president of store development and real estate, told the commission Hy-Vee is not against the Walmart development but wants to be sure the study accurately reflects the existing traffic volume and projected growth.
The original traffic study used a traffic count from 2023, Hoey said. It looked ahead 10 years with an assumption of 2% annual growth in traffic, Waukee community development director Andy Kass said.
Rudy Koester, Waukee’s public works director, told the commission that given Hy-Vee and others’ concerns, the study was being “amended as we speak” to look ahead an additional10 years and use an updated traffic count from 2026.
That would reflect the 2024 opening of a Target store at 900 SE Laurel St., southwest of the proposed Walmart across the intersection of NE Alice’s and Hickman. There also is an Aldi store south across Hickman from the Hy-Vee.
The updated traffic study is to be available to City Council members before their decision.
Richard Hurd, the owner of the proposed Walmart site and founder and president of Hurd Real Estate, said his company has no interest in doing anything to hurt Hy-Vee or the community.
Hurd said he tried to get a home improvement store for the site but none would come.
He said the property’s neighbors have valid concerns but some kind of big-box retailer is necessary to fill the site’s 33 acres and pay for the needed infrastructure.
“Big box is what it needs to be or almost has to be,” he said.
Ankeny Walmart plan also drew residents’ concerns
The proposed Waukee Walmart isn’t the only one in recent months to raise neighbors’ concerns in the Des Moines metro.
In April 2025, Walmart presented Ankeny residents preliminary plans for a new store southwest of the corner of NW 36th Street and N Ankeny Boulevard. It would have been Ankeny’s second Walmart, but after homeowners’ pushback, Walmart withdrew its rezoning application. The Ankeny Plan and Zoning Commission in November approved a site plan for apartments on the 30 acres Walmart had considered.
A spokesperson for Walmart said in a statement in December that the company continues to search for another site in Ankeny and is “optimistic about finding a location that meets the needs of the community.”
Contacted Tuesday by the Des Moines Register about the Waukee store plan, a Walmart spokesperson said in a statement, “Walmart is always exploring opportunities to better serve our customers and communities. While we’re excited about our continued investment and growth across the country, we don’t have any additional information to share at this time.”
Register staff writer Kyle Werner contributed to this article.
Phillip Sitter covers the suburbs for the Des Moines Register. Phillip can be reached via email at PSitter@usatodayco.com. Find out more about him online in the Register’s staff directory.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Plans for Waukee’s first Walmart head to City Council for approval
Reporting by Phillip Sitter, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Phillip Sitter, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
