As Steve Winters loaded dog food into his car Wednesday afternoon at the South Iowa Street Wal-Mart, he said he liked the idea of a second Wal-Mart store at Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive.

After all, Winters said, it would only be fair. Northwest Lawrence residents don’t have the same access he has to easy shopping.

“We’ve got grocery stores over here, so it makes it easy for people who live on this side,” Winters said. “I don’t think there’s anything like that over there.”

The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission agreed Wednesday night — sort of.

Planning commissioners gave approval to rezonings and plans for Wal-Mart’s proposed Supercenter at the intersection. But they recommended that Wal-Mart must wait to build until the state and city widen and improve Sixth Street between Champion Lane and Congressional Drive.

Those improvements aren’t expected until 2006. Wal-Mart officials had said Wednesday night their store could be ready to open as soon as October 2004.

Planning commissioners cited the increased traffic Wal-Mart will generate as the reason for the condition.

“I think it’s pretty important that Sixth Street be improved before this goes in,” Commissioner Jane Bateman said. “The timing of the development should correlate with the timing of the road improvements.”

She acknowledged that state budget woes could push Sixth Street improvements back, along with Wal-Mart’s construction schedule.

Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commissioner David Burress, left, listens while Jeff Moran, representing the group Citizens For a Sane Sixth and Wakarusa, describes and displays a petition signed by residents opposed to the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter at the northwest corner of Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive. Planning commissioners Wednesday approved rezonings and plans for the store -- with the condition that Sixth Street first must be improved.

“There are things we have no control of in state government,” Bateman said, “and those improvements could come less quickly than we think.”

Todd Thompson, Wal-Mart’s Lawrence attorney, said he didn’t know how the condition would affect the store’s plans.

“We’ll have to look into it further,” he said. “We certainly appreciate the commission’s sensitivity to traffic issues. The applicants want the traffic to work well, too.”

The debate isn’t over, however. The Lawrence City Commission will have final say on the issue, perhaps as soon as March 25.

Wednesday’s vote reversed Wal-Mart’s defeat in October, when planning commissioners turned down a 200,000-square-foot version of the project, which included a grocery store and car service center.

Wal-Mart returned in late 2002 with a proposal minus the car service center and closer to 150,000 square feet in size. That’s roughly the same amount of commercial space that already had been approved for the intersection, albeit for three separate stores.

“We believe this to be a better plan than the existing approved plan,” Thompson told commissioners.

¢6News video: Commissioners vote in favor of Wal-Mart rezoning¢6News video: West 6th Street attracting developers’ attention¢Past stories on the Wal-Mart proposal

Neighbors, however, still were opposed to the store. More than 50 attended the meeting; none spoke in favor of the project.

The residents — including City Commission candidate David Schauner — said the store would hurt downtown and create unbearable traffic for the area, including nearby Free State High School.

Darcy Gerhard, the wife of City Commission candidate Lee Gerhard, also signed a petition against the project. She did not speak Wednesday night.

“A second Wal-Mart will pull business from downtown,” said Martha Perala, who lives in the neighborhood. “The city should protect the downtown district for city pride and historic preservation. But it should also be concerned about kids in my neighborhood.”

Bateman, along with commissioners Ron Durflinger, Tom Jennings, Sue Pine, Dennis Lawson and Roger Schenewerk, voted approval. Commissioners David Burress, Myles Schachter and Ernie Angino were opposed. Commissioner John Haase, whose collection agency does business with Wal-Mart, abstained.