Wal-Mart has come up with a new design that it wants to use for the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Hermitage.

The raised parapets, gables, front canopy and hidden rooftop equipment is a more appealing look than the typical Wal-Mart, said Randy Anderson of Boice-Raidel-Rhea Architects, which is based in Kansas City.

But, it's not good enough for the Hermitage Planning Commission.

The commission pressed the retailer, whose design for the North Hermitage Road site will be echoed in a small strip plaza on the same property, to use a clay brick exterior they have built in "nice" neighborhoods.

"They're proposing a couple of modified concrete blocks," commissioner Chairman Randy Coleman said of the main exterior material. "We don't want another concrete block building."

The types of materials used in construction convey a sense of the overall community, he said.

"We want a much nicer design on the outside," Coleman said. "I think that would fit much better in this community."

While clay brick would be much more expensive, Coleman said this development would anchor the entire North Hermitage Road corridor.

"We want this whole strip to go from good to great," he said.

The new 212,242-square-foot Wal-Mart would be the anchor for a retail development called Hermitage Crossing that also includes three restaurants -- Golden Corral and Ruby Tuesday are likely tenants -- and seven shops ranging from 4,000 square feet to 28,000 square feet. A gas station also is possible on the site, said Kevin Fallon of Cedarwood Development Inc., Akron.

The Wal-Mart store will contain a tire and lube area, a drive-through pharmacy, a grocery and a garden center.

Commission members, who have not been asked to approve the plan, were worried about the proposed parking and traffic flow design, particularly in the middle of three driveways. While there would be a traffic light at the middle driveway, motorists turning right out of the development to head south on North Hermitage Road likely would only have to yield.

Coleman said that design is not pedestrian-friendly and motorists turning right will be looking out for traffic, but not someone walking across.

A traffic consultant working on the project argued that the exit plan is a standard PennDOT design. He said the pedestrian question is inherent in the design, but hasn't proved to be a problem elsewhere.

Commission member Charles Rogers asked about an exit lane that likely would be used by motorists parked the farthest from Wal-Mart, and requires them to cross traffic to get out using the middle driveway. Developers said that most likely employees will park there, which will discourage public use.

The plans also appear to violate at least one city ordinance because of parking lot traffic flow design, which would require a variance from the Hermitage Zoning Hearing Board.

Heather Jazwinski, a city employee in the planning and development department who takes the minutes of commission meetings, criticized the development as 20 years out of date. She said it appears to be a strip mall along the lines of others in the city that have vacant space.

"This type of development is dead," she said, adding the community deserves something better.

Commission members also pressed developers about the use of the current Wal-Mart building, which would be vacated once the new Super Wal-Mart is open.

Fallon said Wal-Mart already has a contract to sell. He said he does not know the buyer's intent, but the deal is spurring Wal-Mart to want to move quickly.

If all goes well, ground can be broken on the new site in May, Fallon said.

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