Agenda 05-16-2023; 8-a - Minutes

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37 1 VOTE: UNANIMOUS 2 3 PUBLIC COMMENT: 4 Camille Mikkelson said she uses Highway 54 to commute to Chapel Hill. She said she 5 would not like to have a Dollar General on the property or any other retailer. She said she did not 6 want Bravo's Market to be put out of business by a corporate entity. She said that she does not 7 think the economic boon of the store would benefit the community long term. 8 Bob Johnson said he has lived in Bingham Township for 60 years. He said the building 9 has been vacant for decades. He said that the building being zoned residential does not make 10 sense. He said that rezoning for a Dollar General is a terrible idea. He said that in places that 11 are true food deserts, a Dollar General makes sense. He said the developer wants the Board to 12 focus on the rezoning and not on the fact that this is a Dollar General. He said as much as the 13 parcel needs to be rezoned it does not need to be a Dollar General. He said that White Cross 14 needs better. 15 Robin Veil said she knows of several accidents in the location. She said she is very 16 concerned about traffic safety in the area. She said there are locally owned properties and 17 businesses in the area. She said there is an antiques store, a woodshop and an artist gallery, 18 Bravo's Market, and the Fiesta Grill. She said that the White Cross community supports those 19 businesses. She said the White Cross community does not need a box store with a proven record 20 of poor wages, minimal staffing, countless OSHA violations, and moving into areas and putting 21 local businesses out of business. She said there are 997 Dollar Generals in the state of North 22 Carolina. She asked the Board to not approve this rezoning. 23 Vernon Davis waived his time to speak. 24 Preston Mason said he is a resident of White Cross and that his residence will be closest 25 to the Dollar General. He said he is in favor of the proposal. He said they supply items that would 26 benefit the residents. He said they sell goods like school supplies, clothes for church plays, or 27 wipes and diapers for young children. He said having the ability to purchase these things close 28 to home would be tremendous. He said he also shops at Bravo's Market. He said the goods that 29 they carry are not carried by Dollar General. He said that this would allow more time at home and 30 less time on the road. He said the size of the building fits into the community character. He said 31 the traffic study shows the traffic won't be impacted. He said that there are other structures that 32 are of a similar size to the Dollar General. He said that the Planning Staff has gone to great 33 lengths to make sure that the proposal is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. He said that 34 Dollar General has met all of the recommendations of the planning staff. He said that he strongly 35 encourages the Board to approve. 36 Rob Jamison said he said when he first moved to the area last year. He said he is building 37 about two thousand feet up the road from the proposed site. He said he was surprised how far 38 they had to drive for necessary items. He said the area does feel like a food desert. He said was 39 in favor of the proposal. He said he is not concerned about the traffic, because the traffic is 40 already bad. He said that a few people going to Dollar General will not make a difference but he 41 hopes Hwy 54 traffic is addressed in a separate project. 42 Virginia Ferguson said she has been a White Cross resident for most of her life. She said 43 she appreciates the extent that the Planning Department did their due diligence and their 44 consideration of the land use plans. She said that they ultimately presented a good and complete 45 plan. She said that this request would lead to the most restricted use and she feels that is 46 necessary. She said the land use proposed is consistent with the plan that the Board has 47 developed. She said it is about the use of the land, not the user. She said she believes strongly 48 in individual property owner's rights to do what they want with their land. She said there has been 49 a lot of growth and there has been little approved to accommodate retail needs. She said that it 50 makes business and development sense. She said that it will increase property tax revenues from 51 $2,800 a year to over$10,000. She said the Dollar General will provide an assortment of grocery