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Wilmington City Council approves grocery store near Mayfaire

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Despite stringent opposition from one Wilmington City Council member, a grocery store development planned west of the intersection of Military Cutoff and Eastwood roads was approved by the council Tuesday night.

The project will see another vote, however, as council member Laura Padgett twice voted against the proposal. Her second “no” forces the issue back to the council for another ballot on Oct. 20.

The project would put a boutique 36,000-square-foot grocery store and a two-story, 20,400-square-foot commercial building on a 10-acre site between the intersection of Town Center Drive and Cambridge Village Senior Living. The location is less than one mile from gourmet food market The Fresh Market, two approximately 60,000-square-foot Harris Teeters and a Food Lion.

Opponents of the project spoke out during a public hearing at the Oct. 6 council meeting. A handful of people said another grocery store isn’t needed in an area that has at least five full-sized stores, as well as several other specialty food markets including Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods on Oleander Drive.

“It’s not economic development, it’s urban sprawl,” said Frank Madonna, a Landfall resident who is also a candidate for city council. “It adds no value.”

Some opponents raised concerns about the environmental impact of the project, which would be located in the Bradley Creek watershed. Overdevelopment and traffic were the primary objections voiced by nearby residents.

In approving the development, the city council will change the zoning for the lot from residential to commercial business. To meet requirements of the Wilmington Planning Commission and the North Carolina Department of Transportation, developers would extend nearby Cavalier Drive to cross Eastwood Road and add a traffic light to the intersection.

Council member Kevin O’Grady said the development appeared to be diverging from the city’s overall development plans.

“It seems like we’re transitioning out of residential,” O’Grady said. “This is a dramatic transition. I don’t understand how it is consistent with our plan for Mayfaire or our future land use plan.”

Padgett voiced concerns about the traffic the new grocery store would draw.

“I’m worried we won’t be able to drive to the beach,” she said.

Council member Neil Anderson said he didn’t view the development as urban sprawl because it is within the city limits.

“My definition of urban sprawl is going further out,” he said. “This is an infill project.”

Anderson also replied to one resident who said the council should consider what would happen if the grocery store went out of business, potentially leaving the building vacant. Anderson said the council should leave it to the private sector and let the grocery store chain take the risk.

Council member Charlie Rivenbark said he trusted the work of the city’s planning staff as well as the planning commission, which held two hearings on the development.

Padgett and O’Grady proposed a motion that would have rejected the development, which was defeated on a 4-2 vote. The motion to approve the development passed 4-2, with Padgett and O’Grady voting in opposition. On the second reading of the motion O’Grady switched his vote to yes, while Padgett again voted no, sending it back to the city council for another vote because it wasn’t unanimously approved. The Oct. 20 ballot doesn’t need unanimity in order to pass.

The identity of the grocery store chain has not been announced, but the development is being managed by German-based Lidl, which has more than 10,000 stores across Europe and is planning a major expansion in the United States to be headquartered out of Arlington, Virginia. A spokesperson for the company wouldn’t provide more details, or whether Lidl plans a rebranding for its American stores.

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