Arlington OKs zoning for WinCo Foods store | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

A 24-hour WinCo Foods grocery store could open in south Arlington as soon as next year.

On Tuesday, the Arlington City Council unanimously approved a rezoning request that will allow the company to tear down the vacant Sports Authority at 4620 S. Cooper St. and build an 84,000-square-foot grocery store in its place.

The store, next to Hobby Lobby south of Interstate 20, should open in late 2015 or early 2016, representative Don Woodbury said.

WinCo Foods, based in Boise, Idaho, recently opened stores in Fort Worth, Duncanville and McKinney. A North Richland Hills store is slated to open next week, and three other stores are under construction in Dallas-Fort Worth, Woodbury said.

“We’re looking at several other sites,” Woodbury said.

WinCo plans to begin tearing down the former Sports Authority, which is 66,000 square feet, as soon as possible, although a date has not been set, Woodbury said. The new grocery store will have about 200 full- and part-time employees, he said. It will not have a pharmacy or a gas station.

The council did add stipulations about the store’s appearance and restrictions on its truck deliveries. To reduce noise for homes along nearby Bardin Road, the city has asked WinCo Foods not to schedule deliveries during the early morning.

“One of the concerns the residents had raised was about truck traffic and the delivery of equipment and goods at all hours of the night, which would not be unexpected for a 24-hour store,” said Jim Parajon, director of community development and planning. “Our City Council included a condition that restricts the delivery hours to avoid the midnight-to-6 a.m. time period, when most of our residents would be sleeping.”

The city is also requiring the company to plant landscaping to beautify the large parking lot as well as add benches and a bike rack, which Parajon said are examples of “enhancements so people who are shopping can enjoy the environment.”