
{"id":26169,"date":"2012-05-31T10:08:28","date_gmt":"2012-05-31T14:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=26169"},"modified":"2012-05-31T10:08:28","modified_gmt":"2012-05-31T14:08:28","slug":"family-dollar-debate-drags-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2012\/05\/31\/family-dollar-debate-drags-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Dollar debate drags on"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Susan Dickson<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>At the close of the second nearly four-hour meeting dedicated to a Family Dollar proposed for the corner of Alabama Avenue and Jones Ferry Road last week, members of the Carrboro Board of Adjustment had still not yet commenced discussion on the project. <\/p>\n<p>Raleigh-based Stronach Properties has proposed building an 8,100-square-foot, single-story Family Dollar with 26 parking spaces on a one-acre parcel. Alabama Avenue residents and other community members have come out strongly against the project, saying the development would bring increased traffic, noise pollution and unsafe conditions to the neighborhood while decreasing values of surrounding properties. <\/p>\n<p>Last week, more than 30 residents spoke in opposition during a public hearing on the project, with the lone voice in favor of the project that of Will Stronach, the developer. The hearing had been continued from May 16, when the applicant presented his case for several hours, leaving little time for public comment, clearly disappointing those who had packed the Carrboro Town Hall board room in order to do so. <\/p>\n<p>The board will meet again on Wednesday to discuss and theoretically come to some decision on the proposed project. <\/p>\n<p>For the project to win approval, the board of adjustment must grant Stronach a variance to the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s land-use ordinance because of an ephemeral stream on the property over which the project would be built. Should the board grant the variance, the project would still need a special-use permit approved by the board.  <\/p>\n<p>To grant the variance, the board must find that Stronach can make no reasonable use of the property by complying strictly with the provisions of the ordinance. Stronach has said that the proposed configuration of the project \u00e2\u20ac\u201c\u00c2\u00a0which includes the store at the back of the site and parking in front of it facing Jones Ferry Road \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is the only possible configuration, since large delivery trucks must maneuver in and out of the parking lot from the driveway off Alabama Avenue. Stronach presented several models by which the stream could be avoided by building a smaller structure but would not be financially profitable for a developer. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Opposition<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Michael Adamson, whose daughter owns a home in the Alabama Avenue neighborhood, questioned Stronach\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s models, noting that certain assumptions and choices are made in crafting any such model. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The issue is whether any reasonable use is possible from the permitted uses,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Town of Carrboro does not owe Stronach Properties a profit.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Other residents have suggested the property be used for a day-care facility, police substation or elder-care home.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Ellie Kinnaird said she felt that by paving over the ephemeral stream on the property, the project would negatively impact the surrounding environment. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153There will be a loss of vegetation and there will be a loss of water quality downstream,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said, noting Carrboro\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s commitment to environmental protection. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The neighborhood of Alabama Avenue, Davie Road and Neville Drive is one of the oldest African-American neighborhoods,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she continued, adding that the project \u00e2\u20ac\u0153would be highly disruptive to that quiet, pleasant neighborhood.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They call this a high-volume business, and I believe that a high-volume business \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 is not appropriate for a residential neighborhood,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. <\/p>\n<p>Stronach and his team have said they feel that by installing stormwater treatment on the property, water quality downstream would be improved. <\/p>\n<p>The town advisory boards that reviewed the project, including the planning board, have all recommended that the board of adjustment reject the project. <\/p>\n<p>John Killeen, chair of the planning board, noted that the property is zoned for neighborhood business but that a Family Dollar is not a neighborhood business or a reasonable use for the site. <\/p>\n<p>Judy Robinson, who lives on Alabama Avenue, said she worried about the project\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s impact on the safety of the children who play in the neighborhood. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I fear for my grandson and the other children in the neighborhood if they were to put this Family Dollar store at the end of Alabama Avenue,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I just fear for the children because of traffic. \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I fear that they will get hurt.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Others noted the potential noise and smells that would be brought by the project\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dumpster and garbage trucks. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That noise is going to drive me insane,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said resident Larry Worth. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right in front of my front door.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Big business has taken over Alabama Avenue,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he continued. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a disgrace. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if you guys have a conscience, but can you sleep at night knowing you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to go into a neighborhood where you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not wanted?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcHearsay\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 evidence<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Stronach had previously requested that certain materials expressing opposition to the project, including letters from Sen. Kinnaird and residents, be excluded from the materials presented to the board. In an email to members of the Carrboro Board of Aldermen, Town Attorney Mike Brough said that the applicant had the right to make such a request based on the fact that proceedings regarding whether the board should grant a variance to the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s land-use ordinance or issue a special-use permit are quasi-judicial in nature, requiring that the board make its decision based on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153competent\u00e2\u20ac\u009d evidence submitted at the hearing and not \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hearsay,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d defined as statements not made at the hearing used to prove a matter asserted in the statement. For letters or emails to be considered by the board, the author must appear in person before the board to read it, Brough said. <\/p>\n<p>A number of speakers at the meeting noted that their letters were excluded from the board packet, questioning why the applicant would make such a request. <\/p>\n<p>Brough said that applicants typically don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t object to the inclusion of hearsay evidence, so the exclusion rule seldom applies.<\/p>\n<p>The meeting will continue at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Carrboro Town Hall. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Members of the Carrboro Board of Adjustment have still not yet commenced discussion on the Family Dollar proposed for the corner of Alabama Avenue and Jones Ferry Road.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26169"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26173,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26169\/revisions\/26173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}