By Katie Dickens
Intern
As the Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen prepares to consider approving another hot dog restaurant for the town’s central business district, some residents want the town to consider the art gallery the business would dislocate. The proposed Charlie Graingers hot dog stand would take over the storefront space currently operated by Jazz Undy for his Wrightsville Beach Art Company.
Walter Laughlin, who lives on Live Oak Drive, said he thinks Wrightsville Beach Art Company is an asset to the community.
“I know I and lots of other beach residents would rather see Jazz’s business remain there rather than be taken over by another hot dog business,” he said. “I’ve never heard anyone speak badly about Jazz’s business. He promotes a wonderful message and product.”
The Wrightsville Beach Planning Board voted Aug. 2 in favor of letting the hot dog chain open and operate, despite neighbors’ concerns about littering and worsening traffic. The board of aldermen meeting Aug. 11 included scheduling a public hearing for Sept. 8 at 5:30 p.m., for consideration of the permit for Charlie Graingers to operate in the space. The public hearing will be the final step in the approval process for the restaurant.
Undy currently sells his own recycled art in the corner retail space and hosts camps for local children to learn about the importance of recycling and keeping the beach clean. He said he thinks another hot dog restaurant opening on the island would add to the existing problem of litter and trash on the beach.
“I’m obviously against it, but even if I weren’t involved directly I wouldn’t be for it anyway,” Undy said. “I think this is a seminal moment for us to stand up as a community because it will have such a huge impact down the road.”
Undy has operated his business year-round for over one and one-half years, previously subletting the property during the winters for the three prior years from Rita’s Italian Ice.
“Wrightsville Beach is such a wonderful place to live, and we need to protect it,” he said. “I think we should be supporting cultural businesses downtown, not something that will just add more to the existing trash problem and won’t be beneficial to the city.”
Jerry Allen Lachman and Allan Middleton, who co-own the property as well as Roberts Grocery, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
“Charlie Graingers has a great brisket sandwich,” said Neil Hyman, who lives on Birmingham Street and was present during the planning board meeting. “It’s clean, nice, and comfortable, but we already have a hot dog place, Trolly Stop, that’s been here for so many years.”
Hyman said that along with future problems of finding handicap parking and the possibility of alcohol being served at the restaurant, he saw traffic, safety and trash as the biggest issues. “Turning off of Birmingham is already pretty dangerous,” he said. “A new restaurant on the corner means more delivery trucks and more foot traffic that is tough to see.”
Hyman also said he feared people sitting down along the street and leaving their trash.
“At the end of the day, it’s not that businesses don’t keep their own areas clean,” he said. “It’s about what happens when people go 150 feet away.”
The hot dog restaurant, Charlie Graingers, opened in 1939. Its flagship business is located in downtown Wilmington, but it also has North Carolina franchises in Ocean Isle and Hickory, as well as storefronts in Panama City Beach, Florida, and Ridgeland, Mississippi. The chain is expanding across the country, with 53 locations listed as “coming soon” on its website.
