Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Palmdale Warehouse Project Advances : Development: Planners approve lot split, a necessary step before retail giant Wal-Mart can build a Sam’s Club membership store.

The city’s Planning Commission paved the way Thursday for retail giant Wal-Mart to build a wholesale membership warehouse in Palmdale. Known as Sam’s Club, it would be the first such store in Los Angeles County.

Wal-Mart has submitted a preliminary application to build a 129,300-square-foot Sam’s Club at the southwest corner of Avenue P and Division Street, a short distance from the Wal-Mart in Palmdale on Avenue P.

The commission on Thursday approved the subdivision of 40 acres at that intersection into three parcels, including a 19-acre lot where Sam’s Club is planned.

Before it can be developed, the company’s final application must be submitted and approved by the city’s Planning Department.

Company representatives at the firm’s Arkansas headquarters would not comment on the Palmdale store, but said Sam’s Clubs typically employ about 150 people.

There are 277 Sam’s Clubs across the country. Three California warehouses are open--in Riverside, Calexico and Yuba City. The company is also building the wholesale stores in Oxnard and Vacaville. Several other well-known companies are planning to open outlets in the Antelope Valley, as well as other outlets in the community that are closing.

* A McDonalds fast-food restaurant is planned at the southeast corner of 10th Street West and Avenue P. The Planning Commission approved a conditional-use permit to allow development of the one-acre site at its meeting Thursday.

* Pier 1 Imports is building a 9,000-square-foot store on property next to the Antelope Valley Mall. The store is under construction and is expected to open this summer. A K mart has been approved across the street from the mall, at the northeast corner of Avenue P and 10th Street West. Construction has not yet started.

* Alpha Beta Corp. has submitted a preliminary application for approval of a supermarket/drug store shopping center at 5th Street East and Palmdale Boulevard. A 40-year-old center, which formerly housed an Alpha Beta, would be virtually demolished to make way for the new development. Food-4-Less, a subsidiary of Alpha Beta with one store in Lancaster, is expected to be built in the Palmdale center.

* Los Angeles-based Thrifty Drug Stores is closing two of its six Antelope Valley stores. The Thrifty store at 25th Street East and Palmdale Boulevard is closing Sunday while the one at 2833 West Avenue L is having a liquidation sale in advance of its June closing.

* Pay Less Drug Store in Lancaster “relocated.” The company on May 1 closed its 30,000-square-foot store at Avenue K and 15th Street West, less than a week after opening a slightly larger store in Rosamond. There are three Pay Less stores in the Antelope Valley.

* Drug Emporium closed its 25,000-square-foot Lancaster store Feb. 15, a bit more than two years after it opened. The company said it may consider Palmdale or Lancaster for a store site when the economy improves.