A rumored Walmart in northern Chatham County just past the Orange line remains just that.
Despite a preliminary site plan submitted last summer, the mega retailer has yet to submit an official development application, say county leaders. “It’s not official at all,” said Dianne Reid, the Chatham County economic development director. “This is a small county. It doesn’t take much for a rumor to get legs and start walking around.”
A possible Walmart off U.S. 15-501 south of Chapel Hill has long concerned Orange County leaders, who feared the traffic it would bring and in some cases didn’t like the retailer’s business practices. Now, some worry a Walmart could kill plans for the Obey’s Creek mixed-use project proposed across from Southern Village.
The potential Walmart site is located on 20 acres of a 62-acre tract owned by Lee Moore Oil Corp. The parcel has a tax value of nearly $3.1 million, according to Chatham County land records.
Dwight Bassett, the town of Chapel Hill’s economic development director, and Aaron Nelson, the CEO and president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, said they’d heard a lease had been signed for the property, but neither was able to confirm.
Chatham County Planning Director Jason Sullivan could not confirm it either and referred questions about a lease to Pittsboro attorney Patrick Bradshaw, who did not return a phone call last week.
And Walmart won’t say.
“We don’t comment on speculation and don’t have anything to announce at this time,” company spokesman Bill Wertz said Wednesday.
Officially, Sullivan said, all Chatham County has received is an informal site plan that shows a 152,198 square-foot building and 573 parking spaces.
The site has the zoning a Walmart would need, but developers would need to get a zoning compliance permit and final site plan approval from staff and the appearance commission, among other measures.
“If negotiations work out there may be a Walmart there,” Sullivan said. “At this point we have no actual submission.”
Read more on this story coming Sunday in The Chapel Hill News.
Comments
Something must kill Obey Creek!
Sun, 12/11/2011 - 10:46 — ActLocalIt's not the retail component, it's the continuous wall of eight to ten story buildings that stretch for three football fields in length along 15-501. The original proposal shoehorns way too many residential units. It is like East 54 on steroids. If you like that development, you'll LOVE this one.
Orange County leaders are
Sat, 12/10/2011 - 00:33 — reasonableOrange County leaders are concerned that a Wal-Mart in northern Chatham would bring traffic. Since they're Orange commissioners presumably they're concerned about the traffic it would bring in Orange. If a Wal-Mart in northern Chatham creates traffic in Orange then wouldn't that be from people in Orange going to and from Wal-Mart in northern Chatham, which would mean the traffic is being created in Orange because the people in Orange want to shop there? So if the people in Orange want to shop there, why not simply build it in southern Orange instead of doing nothing and letting Chatham build it in northern Chatham and then later complain about how we have no commercial tax base in Orange?
Ask yourself this question: The traffic created by people in Orange driving to and from a Wal-Mart in northern Chatham...where do you think those people shop now? Don't you think there is a good chance they're currently driving to the Wal-Mart just across the Durham County line? So what is the difference?
Orange County leaders did nothing while Durham County built a bunch businesses just outside the eastern Orange border that are now heavily used by people from Orange. Then Orange County leaders did nothing while Alamance Countty built a giant Tanger Outlet just outside the western Orange border that is heavily used by people from Orange. Considering that track record I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that Orange County leaders will again do nothing while Chatham County builds a bunch of stores just outside the souther Orange border that will be heavily used by people from Orange.
Thanks
Fri, 12/09/2011 - 19:28 — ClaudiusLooking forward to it.
maybe not
Fri, 12/09/2011 - 15:04 — mschultz (author)Town says a Chatham Walmart would absorb much of the retail demand they see in that area. Look for more on this and the Obey Creek question coming Sunday in the CHN.
Does this mean that the Obey
Thu, 12/08/2011 - 21:30 — ClaudiusDoes this mean that the Obey Creek project is still alive?