PHOTO FROM HARRIS TEETER FACEBOOK PAGE
Dunkirk, MD – A request for a special exception that would allow a major grocery chain to have in place a filling station at a planned location in Calvert County was granted Thursday, Oct. 6 by the jurisdiction’s board of appeals. The applicant, Echo Apple Greene Inc., plans to build a Harris Teeter grocery as the anchor store for a new shopping center in Dunkirk. The Harris Teeter is expected to be ready for business in early 2018.
An attorney for the applicant presented four professionals involved in the project—the Shoppes of Apple Greene—to offer testimony about the plan. Among those testifying were Echo Realty Senior Vice President Drew Gorman. The Washington, DC-based realty purchased the property just off Route 4 from Howlin Investment Commercial Properties. Additionally, Echo Realty currently owns two commercial developments in Southern Maryland—Calvert Village Shopping Center in Prince Frederick and Lexington Village Way in St. Mary’s County.
Gorman explained to the three-member panel that the Harris Teeter will be over 48,000 square feet and customers of the grocery store will have the fuel station as an easily accessible amenity. “The intent would be to open Harris Teeter and the filling station simultaneously,” said Gorman. The filling station would operate 24 hours. Gorman noted Harris Teeter has a popular discount program for gas purchases.
Project engineer Joe Kadjeski of Collinson, Oliff & Associates, Inc., stated that the firm has been involved in the Shoppes of Apple Greene plan since 2013 and the Maryland Department of the Environment has issued a permit for the site’s wastewater treatment plant. Additionally, the proposed shopping center’s road plan has been reviewed by the Calvert County Department of Public Works and approved.
Regarding concerns about the gas station being located in proximity to the residential area of Apple Greene, Kadjeski noted the distance between the proposed site and a subdivision property was 250 feet. “This [filling station] is a bonus to the shopping center rather than a detriment to the community.
Traffic engineer/consultant Michael Lenhart testified that since the shopping center would be accessed by Dunkirk Way, its impact on Route 4 traffic “would be negligible.”
The applicant’s attorney, Edward Gibbs, presented a letter of support for the shopping center project from the Apple Greene Business Association.
“I find it amazing there’s no one here to oppose,” said board member John Ward, who admitted he was not familiar with Harris Teeter.
“It is supposed to be the place to shop,” said board chairman D.O. Baker.
The appeals board then granted the exception with no special conditions required.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com