At the May 24 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, Heather Rimmer, Denton division director of real estate for Aldi Inc. and Bryan Burger, civil engineer  from Lawrence A. Cates & Associates working for Aldi Inc. appeared before the committee seeking approval for a specific use permit to build a new grocery store. After discussing the location, design and appearance of the loading dock, the original motion carried with a 3-1 vote.

The proposal will allow Aldi Inc. to build a store in the block A, lot one of the purposed Murphy Plaza addition on West FM 544 and West of North Murphy Road. The 16,657 square foot grocery store meets all requirements of the board.

Gus Delaloy, Murphy resident, approached the committee to speak about what impression the Aldi grocery stores have made on himself and his family. He would like to see this business here rather than in further down FM 544 in Wylie.

The main point of concern brought up to Rimmer and Burger about the project was the appearance of the loading dock. With this plan, the dock will be facing the parking lot in plain sight of customers in the shopping plaza. Council chairman Kelly Smith said this is “a bit of an issue” for him. Burger said in order to make the prototype of the store work, this dock must be in plain sight. There will be landscaping around the area to help block sight of the dock. It cannot be moved to face the north because the retailers on the store’s north side may be using the parking lot area needed for the semi trucks to enter. The interior of the dock will be built to match the rest of the building, he said.

“You can match the brick, you can match the paint, a loading dock is a loading dock and they’re still ugly,” Smith said.

The committee asked about adding a gate to the dock as a way of hiding it. Burger and Rimmer both said a fence will be ineffective since many times store management will leave it open causing it to become damaged.
After discussing different options for the loading dock’s design, the committee moved to keep the case as submitted and carried. Aldi Inc. will appear on June 21 City Council agenda.