WARRENTON – Walls are going up on the new Home Depot store on U.S. Highway 101 and Dolphin Road in Warrenton. The store should be completed by July or August.

Plans were confirmed Tuesday night at the Warrenton City Commission meeting for a Staples office supply store to be located next door to the site. No one from that company was available for comment on the details, although the store is clearly marked on city documents showing the site.

Warrenton Mayor Gil Gramson said this morning Staples would not be leasing land from the city.

However, design plans for a new Staples store next to the Home Depot lot have been approved by the city of Warrenton.

Warrenton City Planning Director Carol Parker said developers are “moving very quickly” toward construction. She expects to see a building permit application for the project within the next couple months.

The Staples would be housed in a complex that will also include a Big 5 Sporting Goods store and one unknown business, said Parker.

The 102,000-square-foot Home Depot store will have a 28,000-square-foot attached garden center. Its back wall will be on the Highway 101 side, and its parking lot and outdoor display area will be in front of the store.

As part of Warrenton’s approval process, the home improvement giant is required to construct a four-way traffic light signal and a new road, Dolphin Lane, which will connect U.S. Highway 101 with Alternate 101 and provide access to the new store. That work is set to begin next month.

The company will also widen 101 to four lanes and put in sidewalks and culverts.

A decision by the state Land Use Board of Appeals in March 2007 paved the way for the company to continue developing a new store after Warrenton property owner Peter Ettro disputed the city’s decision to rezone the property for commercial use.