Council approves Menards preliminary plan for large retail center, citing jobs and size

Fairborn City Council approved a preliminary Planned Unit Development on Jan. 16 for a Menards retail center on a 20.884-acre site.

City Planner Kathleen Riggs told the council the principal building would be approximately 173,000 square feet, with an additional 47,000-square-foot warehouse and roughly 28,000 square feet of garden space. "They will employ approximately 45 full time staff and 80 part time staff," Menards representative Tom O'Neal said. The plan calls for about 415 parking spaces (12 accessible) and directional lighting; landscaping, traffic circulation and storm-water plans will be finalized in the final PUD review. The Planning Board had unanimously recommended approval; Council accepted the preliminary plan with three staff conditions.

Council members welcomed the economic development and job prospects. Tom O'Neal said the site is in an early stage of final engineering and that construction was not yet scheduled for 2018; Menards' 2018 construction slate is already committed to other properties, with new stores expected to open in early 2019 from current projects.