Wal-Marts request to build supercenter in Oxon Hill denied by zoning official

A Prince Georges County zoning authority has denied Wal-Marts request to build a supercenter in Oxon Hill, about a mile from National Harbor.

The decision, issued this week, appears to bring to a halt the companys plans to expand in Prince Georges and is a victory for a group of Oxon Hill parents that has been fighting the project for years.

Wal-Marts plan called for a 100,310-square-foot store on 15 vacant acres owned by the Peterson Cos. adjacent to John Hanson Montessori School on Oxon Hill Road near Indian Head Highway.

Because the county enacted legislation two years ago limiting the size of big-box stores with groceries to 85,000 square feet, Wal-Mart was requesting special permission to build a larger store.

The companys application also asked the county to waive a requirement to have direct vehicular access to an existing arterial roadway.

Instead, the company wanted the county to allow access via an internal street.

Maurene Epps McNeil, the countys zoning hearing examiner, reviewed the case and concluded that the project would adversely impact residents/workers in the area and be detrimental to the use of adjacent properties.

The projects parking design would present safety hazards to students at John Hanson and nearby Oxon Hill High School, the hearing examiner said. Some students would have to cross two vehicular entrances into the proposed store, including one that would be used by trucks going to the loading dock.

Noise stemming from the project would potentially affect the experience of students at John Hanson, who would be able to hear the delivery trucks idling or hear the workers unloading, since the loading area is adjacent to that schools property, the decision said.

Parents of students at John Hanson and Oxon Hill High have voiced concerns about security and the environmental impact on the school community.

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Wal-Marts request to build supercenter in Oxon Hill denied by zoning official