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Wednesday, August 8, 2007
5Cr
&WAL*MART?
Lowe’s to build at Farm Fresh locale
By Sean Jackson
Staff Writer
You might add Lowe’s to
your list of future shopping
choices in Edenton.
The owners of Edenton
Commons Shopping Center
are planning to open next
fall with two large anchor
stores.
While a Farm Fresh su
permarket has been on
board since the beginning, a
Lowe’s Home Improvement
store is now in the works,
Jon Wheeler said.
“Lowe’s sees [Edenton
Commons] as the retail node
for Edenton and Chowan
County,” Wheeler said.
Officer
dismissed
after dog
shooting
By'Earline White
Managing Editor
For four years Abbey, a
border collie and St. Ber
nard mix, would greet Mar
tin Parker upon his arrival
from touring and recording
_in Nashville by jumping up
onto the side of the fence in
the backyard.
She would lick his hand
and Parker would pat her
head, calling her his best
girl.
Abbey, who was given to
Parker by his son, Chris
Hare, after she outgrew
Hare’s family apartment,
was very protective of her
owner.
“She wouldn’t let anybody
near me,” Parker joked, “un
less she knew they meant
me no harm that is.”
At about 8 a.m. last Tues
day, the day after Abbey
escaped from her pen on
Virginia Road, veteran ani
mal control officer Jerome
Purvis made the decision
to shoot the dog on Parker’s
porch.
Prior to the shooting, the
county’s 9-1-1 center had
received several calls over
a two-day period that a dog
was roaming in the road at
the corner of Virginia and
Broad streets, said Peter
Rascoe with the county.
See DOG, Page A2 >
INDEX
A Local
Opinion...A6,7
Land Transfers....A4
B Sports
Recreation News....... B1
Nascar.B2
C Community News
Upcoming Events..C2
Society.......C4
Obituaries.......C6
Church.....C7,8
D Classifieds
Buy/Sell/Trade.D1
Service Directory.„D2
Employment..D4
©2006 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Wheeler, president of
Norfolk, Va.-based Wheeler
Interests, said his com
pany has a letter of intent
from Lowe’s. Wheeler said
he doesn’t expect Lowe’s
to sign a binding contract
until after his company re
ceives final approval from
the town late this fall.
If town officials approve
Wheeler’s update plans by
December, work could be
gin in January, with Farm
Fresh and Lowe’s opening
by October, Wheeler said.
“We’re very excited,”
Wheeler said.
Farm Fresh has delayed
announcement of funding
approval for construction
PUBLIC SAFETY CENTER 50% COMPLETE
Earhne White/The Chowan Herald
Fernando Espinosa hauls sand to make concrete for the $11 million Chowan County Public Safety Center and Edenton Police
Department, which is 50 percent complete. Two homes oh the corner of Freemason and Granville were recently demolished
to create greenspace at the building's entrance. The center is expected to open March 2008.
Students give briefing on Sandy Point development
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
Emily Bunch of Chowan
County considers the new
Sandy Point development
part of “history in the mak
ing” because of the signifi
cant long-term impact it
will have.
Bunch said the project,
located in Edenton, in one
of the prettiest but poorest
areas of North Carolina,
could serve as a model for
other ecologically friendly
Inner Banks initiatives.
Bunch, a student at N.C.
State University, is one
of five students who have
spent the summer talking
with local citizens about
Sandy Point and its prob
able impact on the town’s
due to other acquisitions by
its parent company, Super
valu, earlier this year.
Farm Fresh is expected to
make that announcement
this month, officials have
said. A Supervalu spokes
person said Farm Fresh
President Ron Dennis had
no comment Monday.
A Lowe’s spokesperson
said her company does not
comment until it has closed
on all real estate matters.
“We have not done that
in Edenton,” Maureen Rich
said.
Officials have said that
Lowe’s would build a 94,000
See LOWE’S, Page A2 >
future.
Their findings were pre
sented duringa public meet
ing Aug. 1 at the Edenton
Town Council Chambers.
It included an overview
of the New Urbanism con
cept around which the de
velopment is centered, as
well as environmental fac
tors affecting the project,
currently in the permitting
phase.
It also looked at how the
proposed development
would fit into the commu
nity’s planned growth and
economic development ob
jectives.
The 930-acre property
could hold about 1,600
homes and businesses.
The development is ex
pected to increase Chowan
Deadline approaches for Wal-Mart
By Connie Sage
Contributing Writer
A California company’s
option to buy 850 acres of
prime Bertie County' farm
land for a regional commer
cial, retail and residential
complex, expires at mid
night today.
Vicinages,' a Monte
Sereno real estate firm in
California’s Silicon Val
ley, has proposed building
Mimosa Plantation, a four
phase project on Route 17
and Salmon Creek, over the
Chowan River bridge south
of Edenton.
It would include what
County’s
current
tax base by
$5,040,000
and to cre
ate 2,500
new jobs.
It is esti
mated that
$1,000 per resident in sales
tax will be generated.
County Commissioner
Ralph Cole was among a
small group of locals who
came to hear the presenta
tion.
“This is an issue I have
been following very close
ly,” he said. “This is an ex
cellent presentation. I only
wish more people had come
to hear it.”
Retired educator Shelby
Strother said she thought
Vicinages calls “big box”
retail stores, a water treat
ment plant, condos, and
single-family homes.
In March, Bertie County
officials invited Wal-Mart
to Merry Hill.
Laurence R. Martin, a
real estate broker and prin
cipal with Vicinages, said
he would not comment on
the project until after to
night’s deadline.
“It’s a question of wheth
er the group he’s working
with thinks the numbers
will work,” said Joe B. “Jo
bie” Davenport, who owns
the property with hi6 cous
ins, Martha Ivey and Lynn
the students did a good job
of presenting some fairly
complex material.
“I was impressed ... they
were so professional,” she
said.
The group, comprised of
Emily Bunch, Matt Cope
land, Devki Gharpure, Sar
ah Grant and Krystal Rob
erts, prepared their report
under the direction of Dr.
George Barthalmus, NCSU
faculty mentor.
They are scheduled to
present the results of their
research at the State of N.C.
Undergraduate Research
and Creativity Symposium
at UNC-Greensboro on Nov.
17.
Bunch, Copeland and
Roberts are all from Chow
an County.
Evans.
Davenport has not ac
cepted any back-up offers
but said there are “people
in line” who have expressed
an interest in the land if
Martin does not come up
with the $10 million con
tract price by today
Davenport said Vicinages
likely has spent hundreds
of thousands of dollars on
surveys and title searches
in the 15 months since its
offer was accepted. .
Timber, wetlands, soil
quality, and storm water
drainage surveys — along
with the first property sur
See CLOSE, Page A2 >
HOMEOWNERS
INSURANCE
Rates up
by 25%
Chowan among
“coastal” counties
that see rate hike
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
The cost of homeowner
policies in Chowan County • *
is jumping 25 percent due to
increased claims being filed
in coastal counties, accord
ing to two area insurance
agencies.
Chowan is one of 18 North
Carolina coastal counties
whose citizens will be pay
ing the higher rate.
In contrast, homeowners
in Bertie and Gates, which
do not fall under the coastal
counties designation, will
see only an 11 percent in
crease in the insurance pre
miums they pay.
“I couldn’t believe it when
I opened my renewal packet
and saw how much more
it was going to cost me,”
said one Chowan County
resident. “I think it’s outra
geous.”
The rate hike follows a
pattern of increased claims
filed in the region in recent
years due to hurricanes,
wind and hail damage.
Jim Elliott of Nationwide
Insurance in Edenton said
he sympathized with policy
holders but described the in
crease as part of the cost of
living near the coastline.
See RATES, Page A2 >
NEW URBANISM
GUIDELINES
■ The neighborhood
has a discernible center,
often a square or green,
with a transit stop.
■ Most of the dwell
ings are within a five
minute walk of the cen
ter.
■ There are a vari
ety of dwelling types
— houses, rowhouses,
apartments.
■ Parking is relegat
ed to the rear of build
ings. |
■ The neighborhood
is self governing.