A proposal for a new Walmart grocery fulfillment center at 121 Webster Ave. in the Home Depot plaza went before the zoning board of appeals last week.
Walmart is seeking a special permit to operate as a supermarket in a 25,000-square-foot existing space in the plaza. The project, part of Walmart’s Depot program, will go before the planning board for a recommendation on August 25 before heading back to the ZBA for a potential vote on Sept. 8.
Steve Martorano of Bohler Consulting, representing Walmart, laid out some of the details of the project.
“Many people probably aren’t aware of what the Depot Program is; it’s a Walmart program that they are calling the Depot,” he said. “Supermarket was the term that we discussed with city staff trying to figure out what category it fits in, because it doesn’t fit neatly into any of the uses, but it does have supermarket-type products. It is not open to the public; this is the next evolution of online delivery.”
Rather than ordering online from larger nearby Walmart Supercenters in Saugus and Lynn, the Depot location will be stocked with high volume, everyday items that shoppers can order to be delivered in one to two hours, Martorano said.
“Think of it more like a warehouse where grocery products are in the warehouse, you go on your app and order it, and now they are more proximate to the end user, for the folks here in Chelsea who now have that option for the quick delivery,” he said.
Drivers approved by Walmart would pick up the orders selected by the store employees and deliver them to the customers. The drivers would use passenger cars and collect from one to three orders to deliver at a time.
Martorano said there would be in the range of 15 to 30 delivery drivers picking up orders per hour. He added that the store would see about five or six delivery trucks, ranging from box trucks to larger tractor-trailers, making deliveries each day.
There would be from 10 to 20 employees working in the warehouse at any given time, with two shifts per day. Martorano said the Depot center’s hours of operation would be from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Several residents raised concerns about the traffic from Walmart, as well as some of Walmart’s business practices.
One Shawmut Street resident, Melly Rosa, noted that Walmart has been aggressive in the past in trying to price out other local grocery competition. He also said that drivers could be overly aggressive because of trying to meet delivery targets, adding that the building is near local schools.
“My concerns are traffic, trash, and just the volume you will be adding to the area, because it is a dangerous area right now,” said Summit Avenue resident Larry Campbell.
Campbell said he would like to see the city address potential traffic issues before allowing a special permit for a retailer of that size.
Alyssa Garza of Warren Avenue said she had issues with the business model for the Walmart Depot.
“This is not a supermarket, this is a warehouse, it is not open to the public, it brings nothing to the public,” she said, adding that the amount of jobs it would bring into the city was not enough to justify the issues it would cause.
Garza also brought up the potential traffic issues, asking that the ZBA deny the project as proposed, or at a minimum require a full independent traffic and safety study to ensure that the truck route to the warehouse avoids smaller residential roads.
One of the 121 Webster Ave. property owners noted that many communities are trying to bring in the Walmart Depot centers, and that they will provide tax revenue, as well as shopping opportunities for senior citizens and those with limited transportation.