Menard, Inc. has submitted a site plan for a new Decorah store

The site plan for the proposed Decorah Menard's

Menard, Inc. is asking the City of Decorah to approve a plan to build a 209,500 square foot store on property off Old Stage Road, behind the current WalMart store.

The first review of the proposal will come Monday night at the city's Planning & Zoning Commission meeting at 7:00.  The firm has submitted a request to rezone the property from "floodplain" to "highway commercial."  However, before that request can be approved, the Board of Adjustment must approve a variance and the Iowa DNR must issue a permit to have the floodplain filled in.

The site plan submitted by Menard's calls for 140,000 square feet of the building to be dedicated to sales space and the rest to be dedicated to storage of large items, office space and other uses.  Menard's site plan calls for a 14 foot talk racking system on the edge of the yard that also serves as a fence around the property to limit noise and light and prevent theft.

Menard's developer says the new store would help Decorah's economy because many Decorah residents and residents of surrounding communities now leave the area to shop at other Menard's stores.  "The Menard's store will be expected to produce $30 million in annual sales, increase property taxes and create 150 new jobs at the store," says the application to the City of Decorah.