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Easly City planning commission recommends denial of Target-linked annexations over traffic and access concerns
Summary
The Easly City Planning Commission voted 3–1 to recommend denial of three annexation and rezoning requests tied to a proposed Target-anchored commercial development, citing projections of thousands of new daily vehicle trips, a single primary access, and unresolved off-site mitigation and neighbor negotiations.
The Easly City Planning Commission on June 1 recommended denying three separate annexation and rezoning applications for parcels tied to a proposed Target-anchored commercial development, citing concerns the project would generate large volumes of traffic routed through a single primary access and pose safety and emergency-access risks.
Chairman Calvin Wright opened the hearings and staff presented the applications and an accompanying traffic impact study (TIS). City staff told the commission the applicant submitted the TIS and that the requests would reclassify the parcels to General Commercial to allow major retail uses. Applicant representative Woody Axelson said the ownership group was approached by Target and believed a Target anchor would be “a better use for the site, the city of Easly City, and the residents of Easly City as well.”
Why it mattered: Commissioners and residents repeatedly flagged the project’s single primary access and the TIS’s worst-case full-buildout estimate of 13,560 two-way daily trips. A commissioner who moved to deny the first item said the volume, even at a lower Target-only scenario, was “untenable” given a single egress and could create safety and circulation problems for Highway 123 and adjacent businesses. The commission voted 3–1 to recommend denial of the first application (PLN NX2602); two related applications were later denied by the same margin.
Traffic and mitigation: Target’s representative, Aaron Hemquist, said the company planned a staged buildout (Target plus one additional tenant initially) and committed to a follow-up traffic study within a year of opening to evaluate whether additional buildout should proceed. The applicant described mitigation discussed with DOT and engineers, including adding new turn lanes, dual 675-foot left-turn storage lanes with a 300-foot taper, a raised median realigning a side drive, and a city-dedicated “spine road” with water and sewer extensions. City staff and commissioners emphasized that many mitigations depend on agreement from adjacent property owners (QuickTrip, Freddy’s, Aldi) and on off-site road improvements that would extend beyond the applicant’s property and require additional funding and negotiation.
Public comment and staff perspective: Nearby residents said trains, queued vehicles and existing access geometry already create lengthy delays at the Rock Springs / Highway 123 corridor, and warned that heavy event-level traffic has previously overwhelmed the corridor. City staff reiterated that the annexation and rezoning decisions do not constitute site-plan approval and that any future development beyond the initial Target-plus-one scenario would require additional traffic studies and approvals.
Outcome and next steps: For each denied application the planning commission produced an advisory recommendation that will be transmitted to Easly City Council for first reading on July 13; council may choose to adopt or overturn the commission’s recommendation. The commission’s denial does not prohibit the applicant from refining mitigation, pursuing additional access negotiations with neighboring property owners, or resubmitting revisions for council consideration.
