Planning board approves Walmart plan to enclose part of garden center for online pickup

Pembroke Pines planning commissioners on May 14 approved a site plan (SP2026‑00001) allowing the Walmart Supercenter at 151 SW 184th Avenue to enclose roughly 6,749 square feet of its garden‑center area for storage and operations tied to its online pickup and delivery (OPD) service.

Dominic Tristler of Lang Engineering presented the plan and said the project will convert approximately 6,000–6,749 sq ft of the open garden area to interior, air‑conditioned storage for OPD while leaving about 12,000 sq ft of garden‑center area open. The plan relocates 33 pickup parking spaces from the northwest to the southwest corner of the site; Tristler emphasized the number of pickup spaces is unchanged, not increased.

Neighbors and commissioners questioned whether moving the pickup area could increase vehicle crossings of pedestrian routes and create backups on 184th Avenue. Tristler said customers will be routed by on‑site signage and will tend to use the entrances they habitually choose; he said unloading and larger deliveries will continue to take place within the store’s existing loading areas at the rear of the building.

Residents raised a separate concern about holiday cargo containers that are historically parked in the garden‑center area. City staff said any long‑term storage or use of cargo containers requires a city permit and code enforcement could be used if containers are left without authorization; staff agreed to follow up with the applicant about those seasonal storage practices.

The applicant and several speakers described the change as intended to improve customer service and operational efficiency for online orders — employees will gather orders inside the enclosed area and bring them out to cars at the curbside pickup spaces rather than customers entering an enclosed distribution area. Tristler said store hours for these operations will match the store’s normal hours and will not result in overnight operations.

A motion to accept the project was moved and seconded; the board passed the motion and one member recorded an opposition on the record. Staff said it will coordinate with Walmart on landscaping and storage‑container concerns as a follow‑up.

Why it matters: the change converts exterior retail/service area into interior space for the retailer’s online fulfillment, raising local questions about traffic routing, pedestrian safety and seasonal storage practices that affect adjacent residents.