An Atlanta-based convenience store and gas station chain received a special use permit to build a facility near Wellcome Middle School after a three-hour meeting with input from a dozen opponents.
The Greenville Board of Adjustment unanimously approved the permit after a hearing that included a former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court representing RaceTrac Inc. and a dozen residents in opposition to the proposal.
The opponents are residents of Brookhaven Acres, a predominantly minority neighborhood adjacent to the property in question, which is located at the intersection of South Memorial Drive and Briley Road.
“Generally speaking, underserved black communities are targeted and our contributions to the community, the city are not being valued,” said Walter C. Fields, who built his Brookhaven home in 1979. “Brookhaven is considered one of the most desirable minority neighborhoods in Greenville. We have tried over the past 53 years to maintain a healthy community and wholesome peaceful living.”
A gas station will be noisy and pollute the neighborhood environment with fumes, Fields and several other speakers said. Other speakers cited guidance the Environmental Protection Agency has given recommending screening of school sites for health risks if located within 1,000 feet of a gas station.
Garrie Moore, representing the Brookhaven Neighborhood Association, said residents plan to appeal the board’s ruling in Pitt County Superior Court. RaceTrac’s representatives said the gas station will not be noisy and will not pollute the environment.
Jason Hrabusa, a civil engineer who worked on the site’s fuel storage design, said technology is in place to capture fumes from the storage system. Most fumes come from the car engines.
Former N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, who represented RaceTrac, said the business wants to contribute to the community.
“The whole point of this hearing is, number one, to show that RaceTrac has indeed met the standards that are statutorily defined and secondly, RaceTrac has indicated by its outreach to the community that it wants to be a good neighbor and to partner with neighbors and the school in a whole host of activities,” Beasley said. She noted that RaceTrac met with neighbors in late August to discuss its plans for the site.
Earlier this year, RaceTrac attempted to rezone property at the intersection of North Memorial Drive and Independence Boulevard so it could build a convenience store and gas station but the council denied the request.
The property at Memorial and Briley is already zoned commercial but city rules require a special use permit be granted to operate a gas station.
Tommy Pease, RaceTrac’s development manager, said the North Memorial Drive location is ideal because it will capture traffic that already travels between I-587 (formerly U.S. 264 Bypass) and U.S. 64 outside of Bethel.
Travis Fluitt, a traffic engineer working with RaceTrace, said Wellcome Middle School families, along with employees of Thermo Fisher and other nearby industries, will make up a majority of the customers.
While most RaceTrac locations have stores that are 8,000 square feet, the Greenville location will follow its “RaceWay” model, a 3,500-square-foot building with fewer fueling stations. The business will serve both personal vehicles and transportation trucks, Pease said.
The proposed lot design will only permit right turns along North Memorial Drive. There will be two driveways off Briley Road, one of which will be specifically for transportation trucks.
Brookhaven residents questioned the safety of the design. Vehicles dropping off or picking up students from Wellcome Middle School often line along Briley and Memorial.
Fluitt said the driveways won’t interfere with school traffic.
Barbara Brown and her husband have lived in Brookhaven for 25 years after inheriting their home. She worries Wellcome students will try to cross Briley Road to buy snacks from the store and could be hurt.
RaceTrac representative said traffic studies show students are either picked up by parents or ride a school bus to and from school so it’s unlikely they’ll cross Briley Road on Foot.
Moore, who founded the Bethel Youth Activity Center, said children at his facility always look for ways to visit a nearby store to buy snacks.
Hrabusa, the civil engineer who spoke about fuel storage, said North Carolina is second to California in its regulation of fuel storage.
“It is extremely difficult to get through permitting and to design to the standard of North Carolina,” Hrabusa said.
Underground storage tanks are double-walled and continuously monitored. North Carolina also requires a double-walled spill bucket that gasoline delivery personnel have to use to keep fuel from spilling. Refueling the tanks also is electronically monitored.
Appraiser Sam Pate said the gas station won’t harm the neighborhood’s property values based on his analysis of the effects of the Family Fare convenience store at the intersection of 14th Street and Greenville Boulevard had on a nearby neighborhood. He said Brookhaven wouldn’t experience any negative effects.
Moore asked for a continuance so the neighborhood association could employ an appraiser. Beasley objected, saying the neighborhood had time to conduct the appraisal before the hearing.
Board member Clayton Self asked what the neighborhood would do if its appraisal found RaceTrac wouldn’t harm property values.
“We would still be opposed to RaceTrac primarily because it’s in our backyard and it does impact the quality of our life,” Moore said.
“A major concern has to do with building a gas station in our backyard, that will be extremely close to the community and the impact that it will have on the quality and unless you live in this community. You can’t fully appreciate it,” Moore said. “This is not just about what the EPA says or the North Carolina environmental department says although those things are important. It is about the quality of life that will be diminished as a result of RaceTrac.”
The adjustment board denied the request.
After the opponents made their statements and both sides were allowed to rebut the others statements, the board unanimously voted to approve the special use permit.
Board chairman Daniel Worrall said because the request was contested, Assistant City Attorney Donald Phillips will have to prepare a written decision and order granting the special use permit that the adjustment board has to approve.
Once that document is signed and approved, the opponents have 30 days to file an appeal.
Phillips said he would try to have the document ready by the board’s October meeting but it may not be complete until November.
During the hearing, Beasley said RaceTrac is exploring having a franchisee operate the Greenville location.
With the special use permit approved, Pease said construction of the new store should begin in the next 12-18 months.
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