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Grocery store proposal gets final approval from city council

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A new grocery store may be coming to a 10-acre site on Eastwood Road west of Military Cutoff Road after the Wilmington City Council gave final approval to rezone the property on Tuesday night.

The council voted 4-2 to approve rezoning the property from residential to commercial business, with council members Laura Padgett and Kevin O’Grady voting against the rezoning. The vote mirrors the Oct. 6 vote by the council, following a public hearing where several residents, including one candidate for city council, spoke against the project.

Those residents said the proposed grocery store wasn’t needed, citing the presence of several existing nearby grocery stores and food markets, and said the development would contribute to traffic and urban sprawl.

“It’s not economic development, it’s urban sprawl. It adds no value,” said Frank Madonna on Oct. 6. Madonna is a Landfall resident who will be on the Nov. 3 ballot for city council, where eight candidates, including two incumbents, will vie for three open council seats.

While the council voted for the rezoning on Oct. 6, continued opposition from Padgett forced it onto the council’s agenda for a second vote.

Developers would not say what type of grocery store is planned for the area, as plans call for a 36,000-square-foot boutique grocery store 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 and two approximately 60,000-square-foot Harris Teeter stores and a Food Lion.

However, 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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