Retail giant Walmart is applying to build one of the company’s mammoth Supercenter stores  in Patterson.

City Manager Cleve Morris said Walmart has filed an application to build a 158,000-square-foot retail and grocery store at the southwest corner of Sperry and Ward avenues, across from an existing SaveMart supermarket.

Morris said Thursday that the city is reviewing the application before accepting the document. 

“You’ve got people on both sides, definitely, and it is probably a little more heated than normal,” Morris said of the debate.

Walmart has launched a website to promote the proposed store, touting community benefits which range from the promise of 450 jobs with competitive wages and benefits to the variety of amenities and convenience of 24-hour shopping.

Before becoming a reality, Morris said, the project must get the approval of the Patterson Planning Commission and the Patterson City Council.

Walmart has started an environmental impact report and must complete a fiscal analysis and other studies, Morris said.

“It is a permitted use on that property, but is would be a planned development, which puts some other requirements on them,” the city manager explained. “As part of the EIR, they do an economic study which basically studies the impact it would have on other businesses. We want to look at all of that information.”

Ultimately, Morris said, the Patterson council can either approve or reject the project – but he stressed that the decision must ultimately be based on the findings of the studies and reports.

Newman City Manager Michael Holland said local officials will be following the process and its potential impacts on a regional basis.

“It is so new that we have not yet analyzed the impacts. It is only an application at this point, but we will be following it,” he stated.

Many in Patterson have expressed support based on the local shopping opportunities a Walmart Supercenter would offer, Morris said, while others have expressed worries about the impact a Walmart would have on downtown merchants and other small businesses in the community.

“We want to make an informed decision which benefits the community,” Morris reflected. “It is going to be a difficult decision, whichever way they go.”