The Whitman County Board of Adjustment approved a conditional use permit for the Ambrose Property Group on July 25.
The center will be located within the unincorporated area of Whitman County off of Airport Road and SR 270, Whitman County Planner Alan Thomson said.
“Receiving, storing, assembling, displaying, shipping, distribution, preparing, selling things such as food, grocery and liquor items – that’s essentially what they’re doing,” he said.
In addition to the conditional use permit approved on July 25, the Ambrose Property Group is currently applying for the building permit. Once approved, construction for the warehouse and distribution center will begin in the next month or so, Thomson said.
During the July 25 public hearing for the permit, Whitman County residents had concerns regarding the warehouse and distribution center. These concerns were primarily in regards to the potential disruptions construction and traffic would bring to residents in the area, Thomson said.
The Board of Adjustment has worked with local government bodies in the past to ensure that construction and distribution processes go smoothly, he said.
“We have reviewed the trips, the number of trips coming back and forth and both [the Department of Transportation] and the County Roads Department have said that the roads can handle this and this kind of excess traffic,” he said.
While there have been rumors, as the Ambrose Property Group has previously built Amazon warehouses and distribution centers, there is no evidence that the warehouse and distribution center is for Amazon, Thomson said.
“The word Amazon does not appear on any [part] of the application,” he said.
Further information regarding the development of the warehouse and distribution center from Ambrose Property Group could not be obtained.
“Ambrose can provide no additional information at this time beyond what has already been publicly submitted,” a spokesperson with Ambrose Property Group said.
Further information regarding this topic may be obtained from the Board of Adjustment public hearing minutes from July 25.
