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Board approves Harris Auto variance to waive Gribble Road sidewalk
Summary
The Stallings Board of Adjustment unanimously approved a variance allowing Harris Auto to omit the sidewalk required by the Stallings development ordinance at 3120 Gribble Road. The board found hardship, topography and lack of connectivity and directed the applicant to revise plans.
The Stallings Board of Adjustment voted 5‑0 to grant a variance allowing Harris Auto (Moser Group) to omit the sidewalk requirement for a new auto‑repair site at 3120 Gribble Road.
Staff presented the application as a request for relief from Article 2.19‑1 of the Stallings development ordinance, which requires sidewalks for new commercial development. Staff said the property is zoned industrial, is currently vacant (former homes were removed around 2018–2019), and that construction documents are reviewed but still await outside approvals from NCDEQ and Union County Public Works for sewer capacity/extension.
Thomas Harris, the applicant, told the board he had shown photos and video of Gribble Road and argued a sidewalk “would be a sidewalk to nowhere,” citing steep grade drops (staff and the applicant referenced a 24‑inch area and an approximately 46‑inch drop at parts of the frontage) and repeated thefts of vehicles and catalytic converters on the corridor. “I wouldn’t imagine that there would be any use for walking on a sidewalk that connects to nowhere,” Harris said.
During deliberation a board member said the stretch is dark and heavily trafficked, recounting personal rides and walks and concluding the sidewalk would not meaningfully serve the township without adjoining connections. Staff also said there is no existing continuous sidewalk along Gribble Road and that planned work on Stallings Road (including a planned bump‑out tied to transportation improvements for Atrium Hospital) has not produced a Gribble Road sidewalk connection.
The board voted on the four required variance findings—(1) unnecessary hardship from strict application, (2) conditions peculiar to the property, (3) hardship not caused by the applicant, and (4) consistency with the spirit and intent of the ordinance protecting public safety and substantial justice—and recorded unanimous affirmative votes on each finding. A motion to approve the overall variance passed by voice vote with no recorded dissents.
As a next step staff confirmed that, if the variance stands, the applicant must revise construction drawings to remove the sidewalk shown on the current plan and that final construction approval remains contingent on required outside permits. The decision may be appealed to the Superior Court in Union County within 30 days of the board’s written decision.
The board adjourned immediately after the vote.
