The 52,000-square-foot store is planned for a vacant parcel at the intersection of Route 18 and Meadow Lane, where residents have long complained about the lack of nearby shopping options.
That concern has recently evolved.
“We’ve been asking for a grocery store for years,” said resident Linda Reeves. “We just didn’t realize it would bring grocery-store traffic.”
The project would include a full-service supermarket, pharmacy, bakery, deli and approximately 310 parking spaces.
Developers say the location was selected because of strong population growth and limited grocery access in the surrounding area.
Residents cited those same facts as reasons for concern.
“There are already so many people living around here,” said neighborhood association member Paul Henley. “Now you’re talking about giving all of them a reason to come to the same place.”
Several residents said they support the concept of a grocery store but believe the proposed location is inappropriate.
Asked where a more appropriate location might be, one resident suggested “somewhere with better access.”
The proposed site sits directly on a four-lane arterial road.
“Not that kind of access,” she clarified.
Traffic has emerged as the primary concern.
A consultant for the developer estimates the store could generate hundreds of vehicle trips per day.
Residents called the figure alarming.
City Planner Monica Fields noted that many of those trips already occur because residents currently drive to grocery stores in neighboring communities.
“That’s different traffic,” Reeves said.
Asked how, she said it was “more spread out.”
The city’s economic development office supports the project, calling it an important quality-of-life investment that would help keep retail spending local.
Economic Development Director Jason Cole said Hemlock Hollow loses millions of dollars each year as residents travel elsewhere for groceries and household goods.
“We hear constantly that people want more options closer to home,” Cole said.
Residents agreed.
They simply remain concerned about what might happen if those options become closer to home.
“I like the idea of not driving 20 minutes for groceries,” said resident Karen Price. “But I also don’t want everyone else not driving 20 minutes for groceries.”
Price said she worries the store could change the character of the area.
The parcel is currently an overgrown field bordered by a drainage ditch and an abandoned storage building.
“It’s quiet now,” she said.
Developers have proposed landscaping, sidewalks, a new traffic signal and a landscaped buffer between the store and nearby homes.
Residents said those improvements could make the area more attractive, potentially drawing additional development.
“That’s another concern,” Henley said. “Once you get one thing, then everybody wants to put something here.”
The city confirmed that additional restaurants and retail uses could eventually follow.
The announcement did not help.
At a public hearing Tuesday, several residents said they feared the grocery store could create a precedent for future commercial activity along the corridor.
One speaker asked whether a coffee shop might come next.
Another asked about restaurants.
A third asked if Target had expressed interest.
City officials said no.
The room remained uneasy.
The proposed grocery store would also create approximately 140 jobs.
One resident questioned whether that many employees would further increase traffic.
“They have to get there somehow,” she said.
City Council member Anthony Brooks attempted to reassure residents that the development would undergo a full traffic review.
He also reminded the audience that Hemlock Hollow’s comprehensive plan identifies the intersection for future commercial growth.
A resident responded that the comprehensive plan was written “before all these people moved here.”
The plan was adopted three years ago.
Many residents at the meeting moved to Hemlock Hollow within the past five.
Several speakers emphasized that they were not opposed to growth.
“I want to be very clear,” Henley said. “I am pro-development.”
He then spent eight minutes describing why this development should not be developed.
City officials say they will continue working with the developer and neighborhood representatives before the project returns for a final vote.
Possible changes include additional landscaping, modified entrances and limits on delivery hours.
Relocating the store to another site is not currently under consideration.
That disappointed several residents, who suggested placing it closer to the highway.
The nearest available highway site is approximately 18 minutes away.
When informed of this, Reeves paused.
“That’s basically where we already shop.”
At press time, Hemlock Hollow residents remained strongly supportive of having a grocery store nearby, provided nobody nearby actually uses it.
