Orange County spurns Dollar General’s 2nd attempt to build a store with split vote

Residents of a small, rural community west of Carrboro defeated Dollar General for a second time Tuesday when the Orange County commissioners cast a split vote to deny a proposed store.

While none of the commissioners favored the 10,640-square-foot store proposed for the corner of N.C. 54 and White Cross Road, the 4-3 decision came down to whether the retail land use was appropriate and not the future tenant.

The White Cross community already has multiple businesses, including Fiesta Grill restaurant, two gas stations, Bravo’s Market, two auto mechanic shops, and a heating and air conditioning service. Additional retail is a short drive away.

Roughly a third of the 19 people who spoke, many of them longtime residents, supported the decision to deny the proposed rezoning.

White Cross resident Lynne Jaffe urged the commissioners to consider the area’s rural nature and how to preserve it.

“I don’t have a problem if there’s going to be a retail node there, but I do have a big problem with Dollar General,” Jaffe said. “It is not a good business to invite into our community for all the reasons that have already been stated. ... This idea of convenience where we have to have it right next door is going to devour our county if we keep saying yes to it.”

Others disagreed, including Preston Mason, who noted the proposed store would serve more rural residents than those living nearby, without harming the existing businesses in White Cross.

“Dollar General sells goods that people need — school supplies for a late-night project due the next day, clothes for a church play, or things like wipes and diapers for young children,” Mason said. “Having the ability to purchase these goods so close to home would be a tremendous thing for me and the other residents of the community.”

County land-use plan considered

Commissioners Chair Jamezetta Bedford rejected the rezoning, saying among other findings, that it did not meet conditions in the the county’s land-use ordinance, would not add to the economic diversity, and would do little to preserve community character or promote public safety, health and welfare.

Contrary to the land-use plan, it also does nothing to limit sprawl, create clustered and walkable communities, or discourage strip malls, added Commissioner Sally Greene, who also voted to deny the rezoning.

Commissioners Vice Chair Earl McKee disagreed, joining Commissioners Phyllis Portie-Ascott and Anna Richards in support for the rezoning.

A Dollar General is not completely out of context with the commercial uses that could be there one day, McKee said, noting that the N.C. 54 corridor west of Carrboro is a major thoroughfare that could become four lanes with traffic signals, and is not walkable now.

However, the store will increase commercial property tax revenues, McKee said, as he reminded the board that homeowners pay over 70% of the county’s property taxes as a result of previous decisions promoting Orange County as a bedroom community.

“I understand it’s going to change White Cross. I’ve got no doubt on that, but change is inevitable, and in my view, it is consistent with surrounding properties,” McKee said.

It was a difficult decision, Commissioner Anna Richards said, especially since she doesn’t shop at chain retailers, including Walmart and Amazon, out of principle.

“I came down to swallowing all my other stuff and saying it looks to me like it meets the requirement for the change,” Richards said. “It was a difficult decision for me because of these other things that I’ve talked about, but I do believe that the evidence is there and that it meets those requirements.”

Attorney Bob Hornik, who spoke on behalf of the developer Glandon Forest Equity LLC, was more direct about the board’s choices.

The proposed store would be a $2 million investment in a new concept that offers more fresh vegetables, fruits and meats, as well as dry goods, he said, with sales tax roughly estimated at six figures. It would have created four jobs, according to planning documents.

“I don’t think that the fact that it’s Dollar General should have anything to do with your decision,” Hornik said. “This is about land use, not land user.”

Second attempt, limited land use

Tuesday’s hearing was the second for a Dollar General at that location in the last year.

The developer withdrew the first, general rezoning plan, which would have allowed a retail store and at least 110 other residential and commercial uses, after it ran into community opposition. The Planning Board voted to recommend the commissioners deny the project.

The developer responded by withdrawing the plan, but not before the commissioners’ public hearing on it was advertised, triggering a one-year waiting period for a new plan.

White Cross residents and small business owners cheered, thinking the plan was defeated.

However, the developer skirted the delay by submitting a more detailed conditional zoning application, which is different from a general zoning and only seeks to build a retail store.

The conditional zoning process also lets the commissioners negotiate for limits on land uses and specific requirements for the store’s appearance, traffic and stormwater. The Planning Board voted last month to also recommend denying the latest application.

Vernon Davis, who owns the 4.83-acre site at 3026 White Cross Road, spoke to the commissioners before the vote Tuesday, saying the existing two-story building there now is “deteriorating fast.”

He wants to sell the property because he is getting older, Davis said, but the county’s setbacks and other restrictions on the land limit how it can be marketed for commercial use. No one would want to build a house at the busy corner, he added.

“I’d hate to go by a place every day and look at something that was not in the character of White Cross,” Davis said. “I am a farmer and a beef cattle producer, but I have to have other things to support that habit. Farming’s not very lucrative.”

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