The Mathews County Planning Commission voted by a 6-1 margin Tuesday night to recommend that the board of supervisors approve a conditional use permit for a second Dollar General store in the county, to be located at Hudgins.
The decision was made after a joint public hearing conducted by the board of supervisors and the commission.
During discussion of the matter, staff planner Thomas Jenkins and representatives of the developer, Venture Properties, explained that the second Dollar General would not replace the existing store located just three miles away in Town Center. Rather, since it has added groceries to the products it offers for sale, said Ronnie Walsh of Venture Properties, Dollar General’s business model calls for placing stores in hamlets to serve as neighborhood grocery stores.
The fact that Dollar General wants to build a second store so close to the first one is an indication of the health of the store currently located in Mathews Court House, said Walsh, whose company would develop the property and lease the building to Dollar General.
Walsh pointed out the retail nature of the Hudgins area, naming the businesses already there, including a tractor supply store, an automotive store, a convenience store, and others. He sweetened the pot for the county, saying that since his company would only use about 2.5 acres of the four-acre tract where the store would be located, it would donate the remaining 1.5 wooded acres to the Mathews Family YMCA, which owns land that adjoins the Dollar General parcel at the rear.
Supervisor Janine Burns expressed concern that the store would draw business away from a struggling downtown. She said she could see Gwynn’s Island residents stopping at Hudgins to do their shopping rather than driving the extra distance to support downtown businesses. She said there were other areas of the county that could use a neighborhood grocery store, such as Mobjack.
“We have worked hard to keep the court house viable,” Burns said. “Much effort has gone into getting the court house not quite stable but much more vibrant than it was a decade ago.”
Supervisors also questioned the fact that the business would be on a septic system rather than hooking up to the HRSD transmission force main, but Walsh said that, since the store would have restroom facilities only for the small number of employees who work there, it wouldn’t be cost-effective to hook into the HRSD pipeline.
Two residents spoke in favor of the project during the public hearing. Gilbert Atkins, who owns the adjacent property, said he approved of the proposal, and Ivory Smith of Port Haywood, who is related to the current owners of the property where the store would be located, expressed support, as well.
Robert Warren of Redart said he just wanted to make sure the entrance wouldn’t be designed like the Food Lion entrance, which he described as “a horror to get in and out,” and Chris Berry of Mathews said she was neither for nor against the proposal but was concerned about traffic and about downtown businesses. She said she would not like to see a traffic light have to be installed at the intersection of Buckley Hall and Cricket Hill roads and that she was concerned about the impact the store could have on the county’s two downtown grocery stores, Best Value and Food Lion.
After the public hearing, the board of supervisors adjourned and the planning commission discussed the matter. Planning and zoning director John Shaw said that his staff supported the project, but recommended several conditions. Jenkins had earlier outlined those conditions, including upgrading the façade of the store to brick and including a stepped parapet wall consistent with other buildings in the general vicinity.
Commission member Danette Machen and supervisor Jack White, who is the board of supervisors’ liaison to the commission, expressed some concern about whether the entrance to the proposed store would create a traffic hazard, but Shaw said that the store’s entrance would have to pass muster with VDOT before it could be approved. Commission member Bill Whitley said that concerns about the entrance and traffic were a moot point, since the proposal wouldn’t go forward without VDOT approval, and chairman Jim Robinson called for the vote. Commissioner Tom Ingram was the lone dissenter.
The board of supervisors is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. Tuesday in the historic courthouse on Court Street. They could make a decision on the matter then, or they could delay a decision for up to 70 days.
In other business, the planning commission welcomed two new members Tuesday night. Bill Leary is a retired civil engineer who worked for Dominion Power and Basic Construction, and Beth Davis holds an MBA and works for the James City County Service Authority.