Planning commission backs rezoning, parking waiver for 10,000-square-foot Dollar General Market on Anderson Highway

The Cumberland County Planning Commission approved REZ2501, a rezoning application by Valco Investments LLC (applicant proposal submitted by Rets and Companies) to change a 2.928-acre parcel at the corner of Glenham Road and Anderson Highway from R-2 (residential) to B-1 (business) to allow construction of a 10,000-square-foot Dollar General Market.

Planning staff said the parcel currently carries agricultural land use and contains one small accessory structure; the applicant submitted a preliminary site plan showing an approximately 8,572-square-foot retail area within the proposed building and requested a parking reduction from the 35 spaces the ordinance requires to 30 spaces. Staff described a revised access plan required by VDOT that moved the site entrance down Glenham Road and noted the change altered the building orientation relative to Route 60.

The applicant offered voluntary proffers that would bar a long list of uses commonly considered nuisance activities near residences, including nightclubs, massage parlors, adult-oriented businesses, junkyards, recycling facilities, on-site dry-cleaning operations, automobile salvage and outdoor disposal/incineration, among other categories. The proffers also permit a bar within a restaurant and other commercial uses otherwise allowed in B-1.

In the staff presentation, the planner reviewed parking precedents at existing local Dollar General and DG Market locations and said most of those lots are not regularly full at any particular time. The applicant provided a market/parking letter from its architecture and engineering manager asserting 30 spaces would exceed anticipated peak-hour demand.

Applicant representative Kerry Hedgers told the commission the proposed DG Market responds to public input gathered during the county's 2023 comprehensive-plan process: "83 percent of the respondents said access to groceries and shopping was their number 1 challenge for living in and working in Cumberland County," Hedgers said, citing the comprehensive-plan materials. Hedgers added that Dollar General or DG Market locations often attract additional commercial development, including convenience/fuel sites and pharmacy-type retailers.

Rents/Rents (developer) representative Greg Stewart and site engineers explained the parking waiver relates to the applicant's ability to orient the building front toward Route 60. Stewart said the project has site constraints (well/septic locations, stormwater, VDOT access rules) and that while the developer can make a corner-entry design work and can "100%" orient an entrance toward the intersection in some survey and testing outcomes, he could not guarantee a specific prototype until final surveys, well and septic testing, and permit reviews were complete.

Staff reported the VDOT access review required the primary entrance to be set back from the intersection, which changed the building orientation from the initial submittal. The commission and applicant discussed creek buffers (a 50-foot creek buffer is shown on the plan), tree lines that provide screening to the nearest residence to the south, and required private water/septic systems for the site.

A commissioner asked whether rezoning with the applicant's proffers would prevent other B-1 uses if Dollar General later vacated the property; staff confirmed proffers run with the land and would restrict future uses unless a new rezoning or conditional-use permit were granted.

The planning commission moved and approved a motion to recommend approval of REZ2501 to the Board of Supervisors including the applicant's proffers and the requested parking reduction. The motion passed on a recorded vote: Matt Steele and Kevin Meadows voted no; Steve Donahue, Hubert Allen, Steve Rosen, Gary Donahue and William Fleming voted yes. The commission recorded the favorable recommendation with the proffers and the parking waiver; the rezoning will next proceed to the Board of Supervisors for final action.