By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
Mike Reid said his future convenience store at Mooresville Road and Sunset Drive in Salisbury will be “neighbor friendly.”
The Salisbury Planning Board voted 7-0 Tuesday for a special-use permit that would allow the gas/convenience store to sell alcohol for off-premise consumption.
The Planning Board recommendation goes to the Salisbury City Council for final approval.
Reid plans a Mikey’s convenience store at 1035 Mooresville Road, which used to be the home of Classic Custom Automotive.
Reid said he has operated up to eight convenience stores in the past but currently has only one, which is located at Webb Road and U.S. 29.
He also owns Porky’s Barbecue and China Grove Gun and Pawn.
Nathan Stamey, representing Carolina Building Systems, spoke on Reid’s behalf and said his stores “are some of the best.”
Stamey noted that Reid’s particular parcel, though zoned Neighborhood Mix, has commercial zoning on either side that would allow alcohol sales without a special permit.
With Neighborhood Mix zoning, a general retail establishment of 3,500 square feet or less requires a special-use permit for the sale of alcohol.
The building Reid is renovating is 2,700 square feet.
At a Tuesday courtesy hearing, no one spoke against the permit.
Zoning Administrator David Phillips said the convenience store’s overall site plan is being reviewed at the city staff level.
The Planning Board decided the permit application met three required standards of the Land Development Ordinance.
In another matter, the Planning Board tabled a request from Rowan County to put a conditional district overlay on its 7.1 acres at 1118 E. Innes St., where a large-scale addition and renovation for the Department of Social Services is planned.
The Rowan County Health Department is located on the site now. The DSS project would renovate 19,353 square feet of the existing building and add 27,056 square feet toward Faith Road.
When finished, the Health Department and DSS would have 321 parking spaces available. A new parking lot is supposed to be added on the Innes Street side of the Health Department.
But the Planning Board tabled a vote on the conditional district overlay and site plan because of several issues that have to be answered.
The county must receive a variance from the Salisbury Zoning Board of Adjustment to allow a dumpster on the Innes Street side. The Zoning Board of Adjustment was supposed to meet Monday on the matter but failed to have a quorum.
A called meeting of the Board of Adjustment is scheduled next Monday.
The N.C. Department of Transportation must decide whether a deceleration lane will be necessary for eastbound traffic making a right turn into the Health Department/DSS property. City engineers have argued against the extra lane.
Certain landscaping requirements also have to be addressed through an alternative design process.