A stop work order has been issued by the Roanoke Rapids Planning and Development Department after an appeal on approval of site plans for a proposed Dollar General on Roanoke Avenue was filed.
The stop work order was effective as of 8:15 a.m. on today’s date, according to a copy of the document signed by Planning and Development Director Kelly Lasky.
The application for an appeal was filed Monday with Mike Askew’s name listed as the applicant. The document notes a $350 fee was paid and received.
The appeal is also signed by eight individuals and one couple.
According to a section of the form stating the purpose of appeal the reason written out “is because the construction of a Dollar General would cause property values to plummet, more traffic, danger (to) school kids to and from (Roanoke Rapids High School), alcohol, cigarette sales to high schoolers.”
The appeal further states, “Appellants believe the following factors exist that would cause the administrator to require a conditional use permit rather than a zoning permit.”
The document states the “appellants believe that the proposed Dollar General site development fails to meet the facts required to be met as part of the evaluation of an application for a conditional use permit.
“Therefore, the Dollar General will injure property values, endanger safety of students and persons going to/from high school and endanger the public health, safety or general welfare in the immediate vicinity.”
Says the appeal: “The use of the property for a Dollar General will injure the enjoyment of property in the immediate vicinity for the purposes already permitted and impede normal and orderly development and improvement of surrounding property for uses permitted in the district, and a substantial depreciation of property values within the neighborhood is expected. The use of the property as a retail store is inconsistent with the City’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan, which indicates this property and area as an ‘Office and Institutional’ land use.”
The appeal says when “a use in a nonresidential zone is permissible with a zoning permit, a conditional use permit shall nevertheless be required if the administrator finds that the proposed use would have an extraordinary impact on neighboring properties or the general public.”
In addition to Askew, the other appellants are: Wayne Keeter; James Dech III; Sharon Driscoll; Amanda Scanlon; Tony and Betty Martin; Julie Callis; Jamal Summey and Clayton Casey.
The stop work order says the appeals application “alleges that the administrator failed to apply Section 151-147 Board of Adjustment Jurisdiction Over Uses Otherwise Permissible with a Zoning Permit, which would have required the applicant to apply for a conditional use permit for the land use, which is believed to impose an extraordinary impact on neighboring properties or general public.
“The factors considered include … whether the proposed use is for an undeveloped property or previously developed lot … a change from one principal use classification to another … the site poses peculiar traffic or other hazards or difficulties … and the the proposed use is likely to have impacts that differ substantially from those uses within the vicinity.”
The order notes when an appeal is filed the board of adjustment shall hear and decide the determination made by the land use administrator. “The board may reverse or affirm the decision or determination appealed from and shall make a decision that in its opinion ought to be made in the case before it. To this end, the board of adjustment shall have all powers of the land use administrator, whom the appeal is taken.”
The board is expected to hear and decide all appeals as expeditiously as possible. Notification of the hearing day, time and location will be provided as soon as possible.
The planning and development department, after a thorough examination by the city’s Development Review Committee, approved the site plans late Friday,
Lasky said in May the plans don’t have to go before the planning board or city council because the use is allowed in the B-1 district.
