There are people who are less than thrilled that Walmart plans to build a new 181,000 square-foot supercenter to anchor a 44-acre shopping center on the northwest corner of Atherton Drive and South Main Street.

And four of them expressed their concerns about the project at Tuesday’s Manteca City Council meeting.

They contend having a Walmart Supercenter at that location will:

*significantly increase traffic congestion on South Main due to its proximity to the 120 Bypass offramp despite South Main being widened to six lanes and the plan for a right turn only into the center from South Main.

*will depress nearby home values.

*simply shift problems they call “scary” with the existing Walmart parking lot to the other side of the freeway.

*will concentrate too much commercial at the intersection that should be spread out around Manteca.

*not improve the retail mix in Manteca as they contend people want other stores of better quality.

*cause people to move out of Manteca as it is not the type of growth they want to see.

One speaker said it should go instead at the Promenade Shops at Orchard Valley after erroneously inferring stores are moving out of that center when the opposite is actually happening.

Walmart submitted a preapplication to the city last week for the acreage that has been zoned for general commercial for decades.

It is not expected to reach the point of public input at the planning commission and City Council level for 12 months.

The city zoned the Atherton Drive corridor before any development of consequences happened south of the freeway so commercial and apartments backing up to the 120 Bypass would insulate residential neighborhoods from freeway noise.

The only residential area the Walmart project will border is the 450-unit Atherton Arms apartment complex on the west.

Another speaker also spoke against another south of the Bypass commercial project — a gas station/convenience store that is part of a proposed neighborhoods commercial center going in at Pillsbury Road and Woodward Avenue.

They contend nowhere else in Manteca is there a gas station that close to a residential neighborhood.

In reality, there are eight gas stations in Manteca that are actually closer to residential development.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com