The rumors are true.
A new Walmart Supercenter slated for construction in Warrenton will take shape along U.S. Highway 101 sometime next year, on property near Marlin Avenue behind the Les Schwab Tire Center.
It would be the first Walmart store on the North Coast of Oregon.
Warrenton City Planner Carol Parker said the project will tackle engineering, permits and site design first, along with a traffic impacts analysis. She expects those details to be completed by December, and estimated that construction could begin next spring when weather permits.
The project will go before the Warrenton Planning Commission.
 This conceptual site plan by PacLand Engineering shows the location
and layout of a new Walmart to be constructed in Warrenton.
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Parker acknowledged that Walmart can be a controversial topic.
Detractors have attacked the big box chain for its negative effect on
small businesses, among other issues.
"I know that there are people who think Walmart will decimate the area," she said.
But Parker said the new retail choices offered by Walmart and the new Costco [under construction now in Warrenton] will give residents and visitors affordable choices in a difficult economy.
"When you have a family with four children who is barely making it," she said, "the last thing you want [as a parent] is to have to choose between who of your children is going to get that new pair of pants because pants cost $30."
Parker said the new store will also offer groceries, and that means competition with area retailers.
"It will cause the other grocers to take notice of what they are charging," she said.
She said the arrival of Walmart on the coast also will draw customers from communities in Washington state, who will come to Warrenton to avoid sales tax and city traffic.
"We need retail businesses here that will serve a variety of income levels," Parker said.
The 15-acre Walmart development site plan provides for more than 153,000 sq. ft. of retail space, and over 600 parking spaces.
The construction project to build the store will create about 200 temporary jobs, and the store will employ about 300 people.
The store will take about a year to build.
There are about 16 Walmarts within 100 miles of Astoria, but all are inland clustered around the I-5 corridor.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates more than 8,000 stores in 15 countries. The company Web site lists its sales at $401 billion for FY 2009. Walmart employs more than 2.1 million people.