The Rock Island Board of Zoning Appeals has given the future Walmart the green light on some changes they wanted in regards to city regulations.

Walmart got its way on the number of parking spaces and lighting the lot will have.
City leaders and a company spokesperson says this clears a big hurdle to building the super Walmart.

“This plot of land is perfect for us. It’s exactly where we want to be. It’s exactly the community we want to be in and that they are ready to have us and so seven out of of thousands we could probably apply for is a great way to start,” said Michelle Caraballo, Walmart spokesperson.

Seven items discussed at Wednesday night’s Board of Zoning Appeals included items like lighting, signage and parking spots.
The city agreed to give Walmart leeway on the items.

“Walmart is super excited to continue to work with the city of Rock Island, Mayor Pauley and the Board of Zoning Appeals. This is just one more step in the process and we’ve been really appreciative of the pro-business environment that Rock Island has to offer for our company. We’re excited to move down the process and do our due diligence and see where that leads us,” said  Caraballo.

While there was a public hearing set Wednesday night.

No one spoke in favor or against Walmart’s changes
The  180,000 square foot super Walmart will be located at the former Watch Tower plaza in Rock Island.
The city has spent about $15 million to bring Walmart to Rock Island.
That included purchasing the property and relocating businesses in that area.
The city says it’s a great deal.
The new Walmart will bring hundreds of jobs and more than $1 million in sales tax revenue annually.

“We’re just extremely excited we’ve been told over the years that they are not going to be here. We’ve always stayed with it and we knew they were going to be here and this is just the next step in the process,” said Mayor Dennis Pauley, Rock Island.

The spokesperson for Walmart also says a project like this could take up 12 to 18 months to complete.
She says they will continue to work on their due diligence until their May deadline.