• City Council Meeting February 2026

Walmart and Bundy Canyon Rehab

The big takeaways from the February city council meeting are: Walmart is coming and Bundy Canyon is slated for rehab from Mission Trail to the Freeway, and then parts east of the previous Phase I road realignment. 

Walmart

This has been one of the longest, most interminable courtships since Ross and Rachel—complete with breakups, reconciliations, and extension after extension... and like Rachel, who almost left for Paris, Walmart is finally getting off the plane and staying in Wildomar.

At the 28-minute mark of the video, Councilwoman Bridgette Moore asked Community Development Director Robert Flores if there was an update on Walmart.

The answer was that Walmart is actively pursuing its permits and that, "We just received the final version of their grading plans [...] they're looking to begin grading in the next few weeks."

It's looking like those two will finally be tying the knot.

Based on Walmart's normal construction models, the doors will open a year after you see grading. Which prompted me to say that, based on my math, if they begin grading in the next few months, they'll be open by Summer of 2027, and we'll finally be able to buy underwear in town.

But even more important than that is the anticipated tax revenues that will be coming to the city. The original guestimate back in 2008 was that a Walmart would bring in $600K per year.

Now, let's add in all the inflation over the last 20 years, and the additional penny sales tax that the residents voted in favor of back in 2018 (Measure AA), and I think it would be safe to guess the total will be somewhere around $2,000,000 per year.

Bundy Canyon Road Rehab

Councilwoman Moore, sitting in the leadoff spot for comments, asked, "When will Bundy Canyon, from the freeway to Mission Trail, start?"

It was a very long answer, but the takeaway is that the project is anticipated to be done before the end of this fiscal year.

Which, if that's accurate, means before July 1st. 

The meeting ran for a bit more than two hours. There are other things too, of course, but that's the end of this blog. 

Cue up the meeting and take a look at the full meeting experience.

(link to YouTube video of the meeting)