Myersville residents wary of Dollar General store planned for Main Street

Sep. 8—Dollar General plans to open a "DG Market" — a store that primarily sells groceries — on Main Street in Myersville, prompting mixed reactions from town residents.

The business would lease property on a 31-acre lot just north of the Sunoco gas station, along the town's main thoroughfare.

But the store itself would only take up about 12,000 square feet, said town Mayor Mark Hinkle.

And instead of a typical Dollar General, with the company's trademark black-and-yellow signage, the store would be a "DG Market," labeled in a different style and focusing on meat, produce and other food items.

Eighty percent of the merchandise in DG Market stores are grocery items, according to an engineer and developers for the project who talked to town officials during a lengthy meeting of its planning commission Tuesday night.

About 30 people showed up to the 7 p.m. meeting — an unusually high number, Hinkle said. Many of them were there to speak about the Dollar General project, which didn't come up until close to 10 p.m.

Several residents said they had been more strongly opposed to the idea before they realized the store would offer groceries.

"My initial thought was to complain about the Dollar General coming in, because they sell cheap crap," said resident Lisa Brown. "When I heard it was a grocery store, I really liked that idea. ... The only thing that I don't like at this point is the fact that it's Dollar General and not a mom-and-pop store. I think that would fit the town of Myersville better."

Myersville doesn't have a full-service grocery store. Martin's Farm Market, also on Main Street, sells some grocery items.

Residents of the town travel to Frederick, Middletown or Hagerstown to shop for food.

Lisa Montgomery, whose property is adjacent to the site, said she wasn't opposed to the DG Market project.

Montgomery told the planning commission she was born and raised in the town and has lived there all her life. The one thing it's always needed more of, she said, was groceries.

"I think there's a lot of benefit to be had if it's done properly," Montgomery said of the DG Market.

She said she is worried the new store would hurt Martin's, which has operated in Myersville since 2010.

Other residents who spoke at the meeting were more forcefully opposed to the DG Market.

Some who own homes close to the site expressed concern about their property values going down.

Stephanie Flores was one of several people who said the store would detract from Myersville's small-town charm.

"It's not hard to drive 10 minutes to shop," Flores said. "Plain and simple."

Flores urged officials to consider updating the town's ordinances or code to prevent big-box store chains from locating there in the future.

The town doesn't have the authority to reject a proposal from a business that meets its code requirements, Hinkle said.

But it does have a say in how the potential DG Market is designed and landscaped, he added.

"That's what people care about, is how it looks," Hinkle said. "And I can understand that."

If the project keeps moving forward, Hinkle said, the planning commission and the town's staff would give the developers input on the design.

But it's still too early in the process to dwell on that, Hinkle said.

At Tuesday's meeting, an engineer presented a two-dimensional sketch for the store that showed its basic measurements and orientation relative to Main Street.

More specific design choices will come later, Hinkle said.

Still, residents, commission members and the town's staff on Tuesday all emphasized the community's desire for new businesses to blend into the quaint aesthetic of Main Street.

Wayne Creadick, a former Myersville mayor and current town council member who serves on the planning commission, pointed out that it took officials months to choose the bricks they wanted for the "Welcome to Myersville" sign at the south end of Main Street.

"That just shows how much we want to incorporate new things so that it looks like it's been there forever," Creadick said.

Follow Jillian Atelsek on Twitter: @jillian_atelsek