Dollar General request tabled after residents raise concerns

The prospect of another Dollar General store in Sampson County, this one in the southern end, has met with opposition from residents who would be the newest store’s next-door neighbors. Concerns during a public hearing this week prompted the Sampson County Board of Commissioners to table a rezoning request by the development company.

The proposal was made by Rhetson Companies, Inc. to rezone two tax parcels at the corner of Wright Bridge Road and Garland Highway (U.S. 701 South), totaling a sliver over 2 acres, from residential agricultural to conditional commercial for the purpose of the retail variety store. The proposed site would be served by county water and an individual septic system.

The Sampson County Planning Board previously approved the rezoning request in December by a vote of 4-1, noting the conditional rezoning was consistent with the Sampson County Land Use Plan due to the parcel fronting Garland Highway and the proposed use seen as serving and benefiting the surrounding community.

County staff recommended approval of the request, believing similarly that the rezoning “should not serve as a detriment to any of the surrounding properties (or) zoning districts.”

A group of residents said they simply don’t agree.

Rhetson Companies Inc. has been behind the development of a bevy of Dollar General stores in Sampson, including the construction in recent years of a fourth store in Clinton, the first location in Turkey and an under-construction site in Autryville set to open later this year. Newton Grove, Salemburg and Roseboro also have Dollar General stores.

Down the road, close to Garland, Rhetson is now seeking to expand its operations with another 10,640-square-foot store.

Property owners and sisters Shelly R. Best and Carolyn Ann McClain submitted an affidavit authorizing Rhetson to act on their behalf as the real property owner. Jamie S Enciosa, chief operating officer for Rhetson Companies, Inc., signed the rezoning application as the applicant.

Jessica Bowers, attorney and representative for Rhetson, said she was working closely with Best and McClain.

“They’ve engaged the services of Rhetson to develop these parcels,” Bowers told county commissioners this week, “but in order to do so, they need to have these parcels rezoned.”

Bowers called the proposed site an ideal location for rezoning due to the intersection of the highways, which offers ingress and egress from two different points.

“The zoning will allow a place for residents to shop for everyday items in a convenient location without negative impacts to quality of life,” said Bowers. “The change in use will have minimum impact on the surrounding property. The proposed development will also help to increase the tax base, access to goods and employment opportunities within the county.”

Bowers attested that the proposed use would be a complementary and appropriate one, and “the character of the neighborhood would not be materially or adversely affected by the use permitted by the proposed change.” She pointed to the site being located along U.S. 701 South/Garland Highway, which daily accommodates commercial traffic.

“The surrounding property is currently zoned residential agriculture, but there is a need for retail — this type of store — in this area,” Bowers informed the county board. “It’s currently not allowed, but with your permission to rezone, this type of store would be allowed in order to serve a community need. We just ask that you respectfully consider this request and allow the rezoning to occur for both parcels.”

Priscilla Powell of 12680 Garland Hwy., appeared before commissioners, just as she did last month before the Planning Board, to oppose the request and ask the board to consider a few things.

Powell expressed her concerns with compounding what she says is an existing traffic hazard, noting she already has a difficult time getting out of her own driveway. She also said she was concerned with how being next to a commercial property might impact her home, especially as it relates to potential flooding issues, and how her property tax bill.

“I feel like this will change the area I live in from a quiet, peaceful area to a crime area,” said Powell. “When you think about a store going up, you think about people coming and breaking into the store. When they break in the store, the first thing they do when they start running, they’re going to run toward my house. I don’t feel like that’s fair to me.”

“You have thousands of Dollar Generals. They need to take into consideration that the town of Garland is struggling. They’re going to take from the Piggly Wiggly, the Family Dollar store, just to please themselves. Not only that, I feel that if the Dollar General goes there, within a year there’s going to be several accidents and somebody’s going to get killed,” said Powell, widow of building contractor Fred Powell. “The reason why my husband purchased the land that we live on is because it was very peaceful, and because he loved his privacy. This is going to take every bit of that from me.”

Michael Vann, who lives and operates his own trucking business along Garland Highway, also expressed concerns with the safety of that particular portion of the roadway. Vehicles, specifically trucks, pick up speed going both ways on that part of Garland Highway, he said.

A friend of Powell’s, Belinda Faison and her husband Rev. Bobby Faison, of 219 Lisbon Bridge Road and previously of Wright Bridge Road near Powell, also addressed commissioners to oppose the request. They said they attempted to buy the Dollar General property for 14 years but ultimately were unsuccessful, describing the area as “low-lying” and flood prone.

“I’m trying to find out why they would even want to put a Dollar General next to someone’s home?” Belinda Faison said. “They need to have engineers come in there and actually look at that property, and find out exactly what would happen if they start digging holes next to her house. It has to have a negative effect when you’re digging and the ground starts shifting. (Powell) already gets flooding now.”

She urged the board not to approve the rezoning.

“What’s going to happen when the pavement comes, and all the digging comes, and all the noise comes, all the traffic comes,” Belinda Faison queried. “It really doesn’t make any sense. I was hoping we wouldn’t be thinking about money, but thinking about people’s lives, people’s homes that they’ve built and been in for years and years.”

“I don’t know too much about politics and stuff, but that is a residential area too,” said Bobby Faison. “How can they just invade our neighborhood like that, and turn that corner into a commercial place? This is serious. Dollar Generals are all over, and I’ve never seen one in a spot like that, that runs into a residential area. This might not get anything done, but I’m so proud that people are standing up. This ain’t right.”

Scott Brown, a civil engineer with 4D Site Solutions out of Fayetteville, has been part of the series of Dollar General stores that have come to Sampson. He spoke to the goal of the project.

“There’s not a lot of commercially-zoned property in rural areas of Sampson County,” Brown stated. “As far as the location, you want commercial-zoned property on higher-traveled roads because that’s where you get your traffic at.”

Being able to have two parcels at an intersection off Garland Highway offered the most access and visibility.

“Unfortunately, it’s in an area that, like most of Sampson County, is zoned residential agriculture,” said Brown. “If we went that along that route, there would be no commercial development outside of Clinton area or along 421.

“I’m from Sampson County, born and raised in Sampson County, been in Sampson County my whole life. I take pride in our county, and this is not the first Dollar General we’ve been a part of in Sampson County. The Dollar Generals that we have been a part of, the community has been receptive to them, they’ve been an enhancement to the community; it’s been a need. We’re not asking to put a bar out here; we’re not asking to put a club or anything like that. We’re asking to put something that’s going to benefit the entire community.”

According to Brown, the NC Department of Transportation has tentatively given their approval based on a right turn lane being installed on Garland Highway. He said the current two lanes would provide enough space for the required turning lane and that all work would be in front of the property, and not impact adjoining properties. A massive overhaul to the road was not needed, as he said Dollar General is a “place of convenience” not a massive traffic hub like a Walmart.

In regard to any drainage issues, Brown said he has looked at it from a “bird’s eye” view, but examining that would be “putting the cart before the horse” with the rezoning request still on the table. He conceded that adding a large store and parking lot would definitely generate more stormwater, but part of the road work would be upgrading existing drainage and “minimizing impacts to adjacent properties.”

All of that is subject to permitting approval, with rezoning being the prerequisite to a number of other permitting procedures through the county and state, he noted.

Greg Stewart, project manager with Rhetson Companies, said it is not the intent of the company to “push out” residents or make any negative impact in a community.

“We’re there to serve the community,” he said. “That’s what we’re intending to do. As a development company, we have to go through different permitting processes and different checks and balances, that will not allow any negative effects to the opposing or adjacent properties. I just want to be clear it is not our goal at all to disrupt the community. We’re there to serve the community.”

“Nobody’s going to be out there doing anything off the cuff or building off of a napkin,” Brown added. “This is going to be a properly engineered set of drawings that is going to be in accordance with all local and state requirements.”

Commissioner Sue Lee initially made a motion following the 45-minute public hearing to approve the rezoning request, but withdrew her motion after Commissioner Lethia Lee expressed the desire to deliberate more on the matter.

“I would like to go on record as saying that I would want to study a little more about this before we make a final decision, because I haven’t heard from all the residents who live there,” said Lethia Lee. “It wouldn’t be fair to them to go ahead and approve a motion to accept it until we hear the voices of everyone — not everyone, but most of the people. We need to address these concerns that y’all have and not just run over it like it was nothing. If it means something to you, it means something to us.”

Her motion to table the issue was seconded by Allen McLamb and unanimously approved by the board.