Florida developer’s Lake Norman 7-Eleven and Wendy’s rejected by town board
The Florida developer of a Walmart Neighborhood Market in rapidly growing east Mooresville lost its bid to add a nearby 7-Eleven gas station-convenience store and a Wendy’s restaurant, the Mooresville Board of Commissioners ruled Monday night.
In a 6-0 vote, the board rejected Sarasota developer GenMark Property Group’s rezoning request for its planned Harris Crossing commercial development on Coddle Creek Highway (N.C. 3) at Harris Crossing Boulevard.
Newly sworn-in commissioner Frank Owens made the motion against the rezoning, saying the project didn’t fit the largely residential area and “was not in the public interest.”
Crime, environmental concerns
At a public hearing before the vote, nine residents spoke against the rezoning and four in favor.
Opponents said late-night convenience stores bring criminals, worsen traffic, are noisy and produce harmful gas fumes.
Residents collected 235 signatures on a petition against the rezoning, neighbor David Young said.
Resident Richard Beck drew applause when he suggested Mooresville buy the property and develop a four-acre park.
One resident who spoke in favor of the project said his family enjoys Wendy’s. Another said stores “bring activity” to an area.
Developer touts improvements
The town’s One Mooresville land use plan calls for such businesses on the property, GenMark managing partner Todd Menke told the board. “It’s part of the One Mooresville DNA,” he said.
GenMark spent two years working out a plan for the property with town officials and neighbors, Menke said. The proposal included traffic improvements, noise-reduction and environmental measures that surpass what governments require, he said.
Underground fuel tanks would be “double-walled and corrosion-resistant, equipped with leak-detection sensors,” Menke said.
Still, “the closest home to the property would be a football field away,” he said.
In town planning documents, the developer said existing trees, a proposed berm and an eight-foot-tall, sound-absorbing wall with landscaping on both sides would create sound and visual barriers along the southern end of the nearly five-acre property.
A proposed 50-foot-wide buffer of trees and other vegetation “would deter the possibilities of vagrants trying to walk through and get to the existing backyards of the adjacent homes along the east side of the property,” according to town planning documents.
Before the vote, Mayor Chris Carney added some levity to the tense town hall meeting room when he suggested all those who spoke for and against the project meet with the developer to settle on an agreeable plan.
But adding another park would just make Mooresville “another Davidson,” the conservative Republican mayor quipped, prompting laughter from the audience. Mooresville’s neighbor to the immediate south is known for its progressive polices, including its many environmental preservation initiatives.