City Council gives in to grocery store wishes
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on July 20, 2016 1:46 PM
The possibility of losing a new Lidl grocery store led the Goldsboro City Council to approve the company's requested site plan Monday.
The council was originally set to consider development plans that eliminated Lidl's requested right-in, right-out entrance from Wayne Memorial Drive.
The Goldsboro Planning Commission, based on input from the N.C. Department of Transportation, recommended to council that the entrance be eliminated from the site plan, a point of concern for company officials.
"Without the right-in, right-out driveway directly into our site, the project is most likely no longer feasible," said David Powlen, with Land Development Services, in a July 13 letter to the city's assistant planning director.
Powlen, representing the German discount grocer, wrote that DOT previously approved the Wayne Memorial Drive entrance, which is included in the company's traffic impact analysis.
In developing the property, Lidl also plans to "spend substantial funds" to make improvements to Wayne Memorial Drive and the traffic signal, at the Memorial Commons and Circle K gas station intersection, Powlen said.
Improvements of the intersection include an additional lane, along the private drive that cuts between the future Lidl site and Circle K.
The city council discussed the proposed site plan during a Monday work session, and Councilman Gene Aycock asked if the company would continue if the Wayne Memorial Drive entrance was denied.
James Rowe, Goldsboro planning director, said the company would likely abandon the project without the provision.
"I don't want to gamble with it," Aycock said. "We've got the potential there for a client to build and develop that area. It's going to be a tax-base increase, and it will be more jobs."
The council unanimously approved the site plan, with the allowance for an entrance from Wayne Memorial Drive. Lidl plans to build a 36,170-square-foot grocery store on the property, which is located directly across from Memorial Commons where Harris Teeter is located.
In other business, the council:
* Approved site plans for a new Dollar General store on Belfast Road; a Cherry Hospital maintenance facility on West Ash Street; a funeral home at 708 S. Slocumb St.; and a conditional use permit allowing the addition of accessory building sales near a used car lot on North William Street.
* Approved a $27,760 annual contract with the Quest Corp. of America for marketing and public relations services to the Goldsboro-Wayne Transportation Authority. Eighty percent, $22,208, will be paid by DOT, and the remaining $5,552 will be paid by the city.
* Approved a 50 percent Clean Water Management Trust Fund grant match of $28,900 for property acquisition for the Stoney Creek Greenway of the N.C. Mountains-to-Sea Trail.
* Approved a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers agreement to conduct a Neuse River cut-off feasibility study, which will be paid for through $150,000 in state and $99,000 in city funds.
The council also approved downtown street closings for the second annual Thriller Night, in October; appointed Chretien Dumond to the Community Affairs Commission; and adopted a proclamation for the 33rd annual National Night Out on Aug. 2.