Harris Teeter will put down roots in Caroline after the Board of Supervisors OK’d a rezoning of the Carmel Church property the national chain has been eyeing for five years.
A public hearing held Oct. 13 on the rezoning of the site from rural preservation to M-1 industrial appeared to be little more than a formality for the project, which the supervisors and the Department of Economic Development and Tourism have been hammering out behind the scenes since roughly 2010.
With most attention diverted by the county’s “worst-kept secret” of the Walmart slated for Ladysmith, news of the 1.5-million-square-foot distribution center off of Cool Water Drive came as a surprise to many in the community when it was revealed in August.
Rushed through the Planning Commission, which unanimously endorsed the proposal, the project was approved by the Board of Supervisors a mere 56 days after the then-unnamed distribution center was announced.
Only two citizens spoke Oct. 13 in the public hearing. Bonnie Woods, a resident of the nearby Ridgefield Road, aired strong concerns about traffic on Cool Water Drive, contesting its classification as a low-use road.
“A lot of people use that. I think it’s a much higher use than the county believes it to be,” said Woods, pointing out that the last impact study conducted on the road by the Virginia Department of Transportation was in 2013, in January, when truck traffic is generally low compared to the rest of the year.
Lori White, a resident of the Carmel Church area, voiced concerns about the project’s environmental impact, although she noted that “if eventually something is going to be built there, this sounds like a positive facility.”
In a presentation to the Board, Franklyn Wilson, a principal of Harris Teeter agent McKinney and Company, described Harris Teeter as having been “very environmentally conscious” in its design of the project.
-CP Reporter Sarah Vogelsong
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