The Warrenton Board of Aldermen gave final approval to the site plan for a Rural King farm and home store March 19.The retailer plans to build a new store from the ground up on the west side of the Shoppes at Warrenton mall. A site plan for the commercial development required approval by the city before construction can begin.City Attorney Christopher Graville told aldermen Rural King made a change to its site plan after preliminary review by the Warrenton Planning and Zoning Commission March 7. Rural King intends to build an 85,000-square-foot store, but mistakenly submitted a site plan showing a nearly 90,000-square-foot building.The board of aldermen voted to approve the Rural King site plan 5-0, with Ward 1 Alderman Mike Shilharvey absent. The aldermen chose to discard a recommendation from the planning and zoning commission that would have added a slight restriction to outdoor displays in the parking lot.Ward 3 Alderman Gary Miller asked when the Rural King store would be constructed and open for business. No Rural King representative spoke at the meeting March 19, but Graville said the company seemed eager to receive permission to start construction.“It appeared (Rural King) wanted to get this approval as soon as possible so they can begin the process of grading and clearing the land for construction,” Graville said. “I would anticipate they’re excited to get up and running and constructed and operational.”When Rural King officials last year confirmed their plans to build the store, they predicted an opening date in fall 2019.The board of aldermen also on March 19 approved the establishment of a community improvement district that would encompass all of the stores at the mall, including Rural King. The purpose of the community improvement district would be to levy an extra 1 percent sales tax at all of the stores in the mall. That sales tax would be used to reimburse certain development costs at the mall and Rural King.The possibility of bringing Rural King to Warrenton was one of the selling points for a second interchange in the city, just west of the mall, paid for by two half-cent sales taxes approved by voters in 2016. City officials intend for the interchange to provide better access to the mall and future development in the area.The city of Warrenton also agreed last year to the use of up to $5 million in tax increment financing (TIF) from an existing mall redevelopment plan to assist with the cost of building the new Rural King store.TIF is a system in which the developer will front the costs for the project, then receive reimbursement for some of those costs out of tax revenue generated at Rural King and other new stores at the mall.Rural King logo