Super 1 sets sights on July 4 grand opening

SANDPOINT — It’s been months in the making, but plans for a Super 1 Foods in Sandpoint are finally official and representatives from the store have their sights set on a July 4 grand opening.

Last March, owners of the Hayden-based company filed a site plan with the city to build an approximately 53,589-square-foot store on an empty lot near the corner of Larch Street and Boyer Avenue.

The plan was reviewed and approved by the planning department, and a building permit was issued in late August. Though ground has yet to be broken, company officials are hoping for an early-summer completion date, according to Sandpoint Planning Director Jeremy Grimm.

The store will sit on a  5.25-acre plot located within a larger 26-acre property. Formerly the Louisiana Pacific Mill site, the entire property underwent a two-year remediation in 2007 and was pronounced environmentally sound by the Idaho Department of Environmentally Quality, according to DEQ documents.

While it will certainly bring excitement and a host of jobs, the store was not exactly welcomed with open arms by some within the city. During a nearly two-year long comprehensive planning process, council members expressed a desire for the LP property to be used for high-density, multi-use purposes, and some balked at the idea of a large supermarket on the site.

After news broke of Super 1’s plans, the council passed a temporary commercial zoning ordinance with strict guidelines on structures larger than 20,000 square feet, but the grocery store is exempt from the rules because its site plan was submitted prior to the ordinance’s passage.

Without council oversight, the company essentially had free reign on the store’s aesthetics and layout, but Grimm said Super 1 representatives have worked with the city to address many of the council’s concerns.

After listening to requests, store officials decided to move the building closer to Boyer, did away with some parking spaces and added a number of architectural details to the store’s west-facing facade — none of which were required.

“They went above and beyond their obligations,” Grimm said.

The building permit also requires construction of a roundabout at the corner Larch and Boyer, which Grimm said will likely be built in the spring.