Asheville City Council Addresses Issue Facing Community

Delivery trucks unlaod their goods at the west end of the Greenlife property adjacent to Maxwell Street.   Photo by Johnnie Grant

Growing Pains on Maxwell Street
by Clare Hubbard

One issue in particular, the location of Greenlife Grocery’s loading dock and the resultant complaints from residents living on Maxwell Street, caused much angst amongst council members. While nothing has been agreed upon in full, the city is looking at issues of planning and zoning in relation to Greenlife’s current space problems.

Greenlife, located on 70 Merrimon Ave. just North of downtown, currently makes about 17,000 transactions a week, despite its small size and only 89 parking spaces. By comparison, an average Ingles supermarket makes about 20,000 transactions from a 50,000 to 70,000 sq. ft. building and more than 100 parking spaces.



Greenlife’s
limited size leaves little room for large delivery trucks, which unload
their goods at the west end of the Greenlife property adjacent to
Maxwell Street. Trucks often wait in the lot along Maxwell for hours at
a time, and residents have become concerned and vocal about the noise
and traffic on their street.

“There
have been many complaints about the noise and trucks on Maxwell in
addition to the location of dumpsters and parking issues,” Assistant
City Manager Jeff Richardson told City Council. In addition, since
Greenlife’s opening, there has been an increase in traffic violations
on Maxwell Street. “We’ve had about 64 calls of service since Greenlife
has opened. Some of these citations have been from residents, some from
[Greenlife] employees, some from patrons of the store. This is an
issue,” said Richardson.


Several options
were presented to the council, including expansion of the store and the
relocation of the loading dock, prohibiting trucks from entering
Maxwell St., adding a noise wall on the loading dock area, or zoning
residential areas to use as truck/loading areas. Currently there are
signs on Maxwell Street that read, “No Trucks,” yet trucks continue to
unload, load, and wait on the street, much to the dismay of residents.


After Police
Chief Bill Hogan’s presentation, the council began discussing the issue
at hand. Councilwoman Robin Cape felt very strongly about the location
of the loading dock. “I don’t like the way Maxwell Street is being
used. I want us, as a city, to be better at planning and not just
permitting. We missed the boat on this one. I’ve been very disappointed
with this project. If the possibility of expansion exists, that is a
valuable option to investigate,” said Cape.


Mayor Terry
Bellamy agreed. “This is an issue of planning. If we had spent more
time really looking at the neighborhood and traffic routes, we wouldn’t
have such a problem.”


The issue of
street designation was then discussed, and a local property owner, Reid
Thompson, was brought up as an example of one of many disgruntled
parties who have made complaints about the constant influx of trucks on
the street. In fact, Thompson had initiated about 90% of the 64 calls
to service complaining of violations of street signs. Several council
members responded.


“I would like to
see no trucks on Maxwell, period,” said Vice-Mayor Holly Jones. “It’s
not appropriate. I’d rather see redevelopment and moving the loading
dock. I want to do what’s right.” To put things in a more positive
light, Councilman Brian Freeborn spoke of Greenlife as a success,
though not without its problems. “Greenlife is making the community
viable but is also causing conflict. The last thing I want to do is
prohibit grocery stores from moving into neighborhoods,” Freeborn said.



Councilman
Brownie Newman agreed with Jones. “I don’t want to see trucks on
Maxwell either, but there are different ways to approach the issue, and
several possible solutions. I would be supportive of conversations
involving redevelopment,” said Newman.


In response,
Councilman Carl Mumpower said that the issue at hand wasn’t as dramatic
as it seemed. “This is an unpleasant, uncomfortable situation. I would
go to say that some people are trying to inflate this issue to make it
seem more than it really is. My recommendation is that instead of
making major policy changes, we leave it up to the owner of Greenlife,
their lawyers and the property owners on Maxwell,” said Mumpower.


Councilman Jan
Davis nodded in agreement. “ If I were the owner of Greenlife, I’d meet
with Mr. Thompson to see if I could buy his property.”


Mayor Terry
Bellamy addressed council with a conclusion: “We need to continue this
conversation next week, because it seems we can’t come up with anything
concrete.”


Freeborn agreed,
saying “I want to have a more public discussion about this, with
residents from Maxwell and representatives from Greenlife.”


Discussion of
the controversy surrounding Greenlife Grocery and Maxwell Street
residents, including the issue of expansion of the store and possible
zoning changes, will be ongoing and open to the public. City Council
meetings are held every Tuesday at City Hall alternating weekly between
work sessions, at which no votes are taken but decisions are often
agreed on in advance, and regular meetings at which decisions are
formalized and voted on.


For more information, or to contact  Asheville City Council, go to www.asheville.nc.us/council/council.htm