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Escambia Planning Board Approves New General Retail Store Fronting Muscogee Road
January 11, 2019
The Escambia County Planning Board has approved rezoning for a new general retail store for Cantonment.
The rezoning proposal will now go before the Escambia County Commission on February 7. It must be approved before any permits are issued.
Terramore Development, as agent for owners Steven and Carrin Buttrick, are seeking to rezone a portion of the property at 149 Highway 97 South from low density residential to a commercial district. The parcel is at the intersection of Highway 97 and Muscogee Road, with most of the frontage on Muscogee Road.
Cantonment resident Josh Womack told the Planning Board that he does not want the business to be another “big box” store like the Dollar General on Highway 29 at Neal Road in Cantonment. Instead, he said, he wants something more attractive as the surrounding community seeks to recover from its blighted status.
“I want it to be a beautiful area, because Cantonment is my home,” Womack said. “I want it attractive, and a really would like to make sure that we have it on the record that somebody is concerned about the look of this area.”
The rezoning application does not reveal what business might be opened at the location. But according to their website, Terramore Development of Thomasville, GA, is “a preferred developer for Dollar General along with developing for other national tenants such as Publix Supermarkets, Vitamin Shoppe, Dunkin Donuts, Chipotle and AT&T” in the southeastern United States.
Pictured top: Looking from Muscogee Road toward the property. Pictured below: The red outline indicates an area developer wants rezoned for a new retail development. Pictured below: The development was approved by the Escambia County Planning Board.
Comments
11 Responses to “Escambia Planning Board Approves New General Retail Store Fronting Muscogee Road”
Yea, Colette, a lot of people move out to Cantonment for a reason. Unfortunately many are for the wrong reasons, drugs and crime sometimes I think they move out here because it’s just a good place to hide from the ECSD. You never get on NorthEscambia.com without ready something bad that happened in Cantonment, or by someone that lives in Cantonment. There are simply a lot of those types of individuals that live in Cantonment. Yes, I live in Cantonment and there,s a whole lot of good folks that live out here but, there’s a lot of criminals that live out here also. The proof is in the news and on NorthEscambia. We need a lot more Police presence in Cantonment to show criminals that this is not the place for them. I’m tired of hearing all these bad things about the place that I live. Need more Police sweeps in Cantonment. Howie, we could care less if you ever drive down Muskogee again and Brian, Dollars Generals don’t cause crime. people do.
Jaqueline, you are correct, it IS Well Line Rd, and still stupid.
No problem with Navy Federal–just the greedy developers and terrible planning decisions that are ruining this part of the county.
Too bad some people don’t realize tha NAVY FEDERAL has brought thousands of jobs to an otherwise horrible county. Maybe you should stop complaining and remember that this county needs more higher paying jobs with benefits instead of only thinking of yourself.
Not for Long,
It is Well Line Rd. that is planned to be extended out to Jack’s Branch, I think, not Neal Rd.
Page 12 has a map though some of the connector roads have been modified since this was created:
https://myescambia.com/docs/default-source/sharepoint-developmental-services/planning-zoning/midwest-sector-plan-location-map.pdf?sfvrsn=614a93aa_9
WOW another minimum wage store. The residents of Cantonment need to fight hard as those on Gulf Beach Highway fighting their way to keeping a DG out.
I won’t travel Muscogee Road any longer. After hitting over a hundred pot holes 2 weeks ago between Twin Pines and Jacks Branch, that was enough for me. Hwy 97 S is too narrow especially with the hills and curves. Other folks have to drive on these roads, but I don’t and won’t.
Good luck keeping the community safe after this DG is opened.
Very disappointed to hear a Dollar General is being built there. These stores are magnets for crime and make the area look so trashy.
Ridiculous, but this was only a matter of time. Three other DG within 4 miles, so why exactly did the Board decide, “Yep, we need another crime attractor in the Cantonment area?”
Between the Navy Federal creep northward, this kind of junk store, the stupid extension of Neal Rd to Jack’s Branch, and the terrible routes of the Bypass, the county has doomed our family land.
I thought I would croak before it all hit the fan, but maybe we’ll just sell out for big bucks and walk away.
Dollar Generals are becoming a blight on rural America. Sure the convenience factor “helps” someone in a pinch however, the company’s less than honest sales tactics are securing the poor stays poor.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jun/28/dollar-store-ripping-people-off-poverty-inequality
If these investors really wanted to “help” the Escambia county’s north end, they’d focus on building an actual shopping development on Highway 29 north of Muscogee road.
I just don’t see the necessity for crap DG in this location. Family dollar 2 miles away and another DG 4 miles away. The same portion of Muskogee at 29 has been paved twice, however Muskogee in the area of 97 gets pot holes refilled every time it rains. People move out to Cantonment for a reason and Dollar General isnt one. The landscape already being destroyed on 97 due to all new subdivisions. Feel like this is another step closer to having all the issues Beulah area currently dealing with.
I talked to the agent for the developers at the Rezoning Hearing and he confirmed it was for a Dollar General store. He said that the design would be one of their nicer, high end designs with plenty of landscaping.
Since this store will be located in one of the Sector Plan’s Village Centers, there are higher design standards and he said that the developers have discussed that with county staff. He also said that the company has been able to develop the higher end store designs for around the same price as the ‘box store’ look since they have done so many now.
The Sector Plan calls for sidewalks and bike paths and if all those go in with new development, it may be a good thing to have a local store for the surrounding residents who can walk to the store safely.
Since this was an upzoing from Low Density Residential zoning to Commercial as anticipated by the Sector Plan, the County Commission has to be careful not to continue to opt out property in Conservation Neighborhoods from the Sector Plan (like they did for former commissioner, Wilson Robertson, who voted *for* the Sector Plan, but opted himself out) because you can’t have more intense commercial uses *everywhere*. Some of the area needs to remain low density as planned.
If the Sector Plan allows upzoning here, then follow the Sector Plan everywhere as it was created to balance out increased development needs while preserving some of the rural flavor of the community!
This also shows that the higher standards of the Sector Plan did not scare away developers from investing in a project here. They chose to locate in an area that had higher developer standards because they recognized that this would also add value to their investment as the area around them develops.
Not all developers want low standards, they just want consistency and predictability.
It sure would be nice to have a nice grocery store that’s close to home with all of the housing development in the cantonment area