Davidson County Commissioners have approved a controversial Dollar General store despite opposition from neighbors — and some reluctance from county leaders.
The dollar store chain plans to build a new location on Old Highway 52 in the Welcome community, about a mile from another Dollar General already operating in a Food Lion shopping center.
Some neighbors like Teresa Reck oppose the move. They argue that the area already has enough dollar stores and the new location could bring traffic and crime.
"That would actually be seven locations within five and a half miles," Reck said. "How many do we really need? ... Creating even more and more and more of these could put the one grocery store that we even have out of business if they really wanted to."
County commissioners said they share some of the concerns.
"Every time I go in one, it is dirty and trashy and the product is in the (aisles)," Commissioner Karen Watford said. "That's the reason we've got some concern about the ones that we already have here, along with adding some new ones."
But Davidson County Commissioner Steve Shell said the new store matches the county's development plans for the growing area between Winston-Salem and Lexington. Turning the company down might trigger a lawsuit.
"I don't see any reason that we can disapprove it legally," he said. "I think if we do, it's going to suffer a challenge that we're going to lose."
Developers of the Dollar General store said it will be different from other locations because it will sell fresh produce. They said it's unlikely to increase traffic because most customers are already driving past the site.
"This is not a destination store, it's not a restaurant that people search out to drive to," said Drew Nelson, an attorney representing the developer. "Really the model here is to capture existing traffic that is running up and down the road."