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The proposal was sent back to the drawing board on Tuesday night. During the July 8 meeting of the Cumberland Board of Supervisors, a public hearing and vote was scheduled for the Dollar General proposed at the intersection of Blenheim Road and Anderson Highway. But as county supervisors pointed out, despite a majority approval from the planning commission, the actual plan for the site still left some questions unanswered. 

Cumberland Vice Chair John Newman said he was disappointed this had come through the planning commission and yet there are no architectural drawings, nothing that shows what the final version of the store would look like. 

“It just looks like this thing has come along and has not been fully vetted,” Newman said. 

Newman also pointed out that the plan, as currently presented, doesn’t explain how tractor trailers would get in and out of the parking lot. Seeing as that would have to be a regular occurrence to supply the store, and that the trailers appear to be bigger than the requested parking lot, that was a concern. Also, Newman had concerns about traffic. He pointed out that if the goal was to back trailers in and out, that was a bad mix for safety. 

“I’d like to see development in the county,” Newman said. “I’d love to see something in this corridor. I don’t know if this is the right location.” 

Newman encouraged the developers to talk with Cumberland’s Economic Development Authority and work with the group. They might be able to help find a better location in the same area, he said. 

Is this needed in Cumberland? 

Supervisor Bryan Hamlet raised some other concerns. Back in the May planning commission meeting where this was first presented, representatives from Rhetson Companies presented a letter from the architecture and engineering department of Dollar General. It stated that a study had been done and showed that 30 parking spaces would be more than enough, even during peak times for sales. Also, VDOT had determined that traffic would be light enough that it didn’t warrant a traffic study. 

If it’s not expected to generate much traffic, Hamlet asked, why is this needed? 

“When I ran for (the) board, my one goal was to represent the folks in my district,” Hamlet said. “Most folks don’t see why we need another Dollar General, especially right there. I don’t understand how we need this for shopping, but the traffic count isn’t going to warrant traffic studies. Do we need it to provide a service to the people? Is this the best thing we can do as a county that’s trying to grow?”

Hamlet asked if every village center in the county, every small area development was going to get a Dollar General as an anchor store, since they keep popping up in Cumberland. 

“Why not?” Newman said. 

“The people don’t want it, that’s why not,” Hamlet replied. 

More about the proposed store

The applicant’s plans call for a 10,640 square foot Dollar General retail store, which would also have a DG Market section, so residents could shop for some groceries inside. Specifically, they need a permit in order to bypass a typical county requirement. Cumberland zoning requires one parking space for every 250 square feet of retail floor space in the building. The building is 10,640 sq. ft. with 8,572 sq. ft. of retail space. This will require 35 parking spaces, according to zoning.

Rhetson officials are asking to be allowed to only have 30 parking spots on site, which will allow them to design the property so that the front of the building faces Route 60. If they have to meet the 35 parking space requirement, then due to how the land is structured, the entrance to the Dollar General would be facing the back of the property. 

Rhetson officials said in Tuesday’s meeting that they hadn’t received any feedback from the public until now. Part of that might be due to the fact the company had originally planned to hold a community meeting, but eventually declined to do so. 

Newman said they needed to look at how it was advertised, as he pointed out Powhatan residents don’t typically read The Farmville Herald and this was close enough to the line that they needed to be included. He also argued that Cumberland residents in that area don’t read The Herald as well, so they needed to be contacted. 

“Why would we expect Powhatan residents to comment on a Dollar General when we won’t allow them to comment on a landfill?” Hamlet asked. 

In Cumberland meetings, public comment has been restricted to only residents of the county. There have been multiple times Powhatan residents have tried to come speak and were turned away. 

What happens next? 

Rhetson representatives agreed to schedule a community meeting in the weeks to come. Supervisors meanwhile deferred this back to the planning commission, to better flesh out the site plan.