Proposed site for new Dollar General Store just north of Leonardtown
Leonardtown, MD — The St. Mary’s County Planning Commission May 11 delayed a decision on a proposed Dollar General Store just outside Leonardtown after neighbors complained. The project is proposed for a site at the intersection of Routes 5 and 234 north of the corporate limits of Leonardtown on an open 1.56 acre lot next to a variety of commercial activities. The site is commercially zoned.
The neighborhood complaints included lack of proper notification about the hearing, issues related to traffic and roads, and the safety of children at a regular school bus stop.
The 9,100-square-foot building would have access from Budds Creek Road and a neighborhood dead-end road called Eddie Nelson Road. The company proposing the project is Leonardtown DG, LLC, a subsidiary of a company from North Carolina which builds Dollar General Stores.
According to the company engineer, Ken Crouse of Crouse Engineering, the proposed building would be smaller than the one recently constructed in Mechanicsville at the Routes 5/235 intersection. That Mechanicsville store is 12,000 square feet.
Regarding notice, Stephen Mcgee, who represents the family that owns the farm behind the site, said they had never received notice. Planning Commission Chairman Howard Thompson checked the record and apparently the notice had been mailed. Mcgee also said that a sign posted on the subject property announcing the public hearing was lying flat on the ground and not visible.
Crouse bristled at the suggestion that they hadn’t followed regulations and said that had never happened to him in his 30 years in business. But Mcgee’s contention was enough to sway the commission into extending the public hearing to another date.
Thompson, however, said that since there were people in the audience who wanted to speak, they would be given that opportunity. The chairman noted that the situation at this proposed Dollar General, because it was next to a residential area, was different from the Mechanicsville situation. “This is a little more touchy case and you are going to have to give us some leeway,” he told the developer.
Several neighbors then spoke about the 234/5 intersection. Anyone going northbound on Route 5 and making a left hand turn onto Route 234 would have to make an immediate left-hand turn into the existing entrance for the commercial development, which also would be used by the Dollar General.
The store also plans an exit and entrance off Eddie Nelson Road, a narrow farm lane. Crouse told the planning commission that the road and entrance would be widened from the intersection to the store entrance.
Several people told the planners that school buses do not traverse Eddie Nelson Road, but instead stop on Route 234 to pick up children. There is a school bus shelter at the entrance to Eddie Nelson Road for the children. The concern was for increased traffic on that road and potential danger to the children.
Daniel Abell, who lives on Route 234 three houses from Eddie Nelson Road, said it is often difficult getting out of his driveway in the morning. Commission Vice Chair Shelby Guazzo, who lives in Chaptico, said she travels that route every day and hasn’t noticed a problem.
Abell also expressed concern about the overall storm-water management in the area. He said Eddie Nelson Road is higher than the land on either side and water, which is supposed to go under the road, backs up on his property during heavy rains.
Crouse said a new water main would be constructed to channel water under the road and around the existing commercial buildings.
Jim Miedzinski, who said he has driven trucks for 50 years, pointed out it would be difficult for tractor-trailers making deliveries to the Dollar General to make the turn onto Eddie Nelson Road.
Miedzinski said he is on the Leonardtown Volunteer Fire Department and there have been many accidents at that intersection. And Terry Klear, who is a paramedic, says they are often responding to accidents at the Routes 5/234 intersection.
The planners during the discussion raised concerns about the buffering between the store and Eddie Nelson Road to protect the residential area.
After the commission listened to the testimony, Thompson adjourned the hearing until the commission’s June 8 meeting at which time it will be reconvened for more testimony and a decision on the concept site plan for the proposed store.
Also at the May 11 planning commission meeting, the next section of Elizabeth Hills on Indian Bridge Road in Great Mills was approved for 40 townhouses.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com
