By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
CARRBORO — About two dozen residents showed up for a meeting last week at Carrboro Town Hall with representatives of a group that wants to develop property owned by drug store chain CVS Caremark, and expressed their displeasure with the plan.
Chris Bostic, an engineer with Kimley-Horn and Associates, and Leigh Polzella, a representative of Hart-Redd, a Tennessee-based real estate company that builds stores for CVS, showed neighbors of the property similar designs to ones presented to the board of aldermen in November.
The site plan calls for the demolition of two houses on the east side of Center Street, the old bank building on the corner of Greensboro and Weaver streets and the offices of dentist Debra Seaton. The company would then construct a two-story 23,000-square-foot building with a drug store on the ground floor and store storage and additional commercial space above it.
The new building would replace the existing CVS at Carr Mill Mall, which has the highest volume of any store in the chain in North Carolina. Bostic and Polzella said keeping that store’s replacement close is a key part of the development.
Residents near the proposed site said that while they understood the company’s interest, the plan was not right for downtown.
“A lot of people got up and said ‘we don’t want you to do that here,’†said Richard Jaimeyfield, who is part of a partnership that owns a house at 102 Center St. “We’re not anti-CVS, we’re just against it right there in downtown.â€
Several residents said their main worry is that since traffic at the intersection of Greensboro and Weaver streets is already bad, the new development could lead to a nightmare. Concerns also were raised about parking spillover to Carr Mill Mall.
“This is not the right spot for the highest volume CVS in the state,†Center Street resident Jeff Herrick said. “The intersection is not right for this type of development.â€
Charlie Hileman, who chairs the town’s Transportation Board, said he attended the meeting and sees a real challenge in how traffic would flow along Greensboro Street. “It’s a very difficult intersection,†he said.
Hileman said the project would dramatically change the area.
“The town has to look at it and say ‘what do we want out of the area?’†he said, adding that the town has spent years putting tough standards on businesses in its historic areas. A 24-hour drug store, he said, would vary considerably from that.
“Now we have to decide if we want to extend that kind of business into the mill-house area,†Hileman said.
Company representatives said they welcome feedback on the plan and will hold another discussion in January.