Important updates!

We have had some major developments since my initial email went out to the CEO and Board of Directors on Sunday August 21st at 7:30pm. Within 2 hours I received a call from Michael, the District Manager in charge of the stores featured in my blog. He said he was heading to the stores to get them up to company standards and he appreciated my call. I thought that might be the last I heard from Dollar General, but I was impressed that the email had went to the right person and it had enough of an impact for them to call me at 9:30pm on a Sunday night.

Monday night just about the time I walked in the front door, our home phone was ringing. It was John Jewell, Chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission for the City of Alexandria. Mr. Jewell was very nice, but also very specific. He said that my suggestion of showing a power point presentation at the planning and zoning (P&Z) meeting was not appropriate. He also said that the P&Z meeting that might eventually happen to discuss the store was not the place for anyone to stand up and give their opinion either for or against the store. He said if the discussion was about changing the zoning of a piece of land from residential to highway commercial to allow Dollar General to build, then we would have a chance at keeping them from building. However, since the site has been zoned highway commercial since before the first house in Summerlake was built, there was nothing, short of purchasing the property ourselves, that we could do to prevent Dollar General from building on the land. He said that the plans were originally submitted to the city engineers who had reviewed the plans and made suggestions for changes. Dollar General(DG) now has to give their amended changes back to the engineers who will either send them back to DG for additional changes, or approve the changes. If they approve the changes, the site plan will be added to the docket for the very next P&Z meeting. At that time, the P&Z's job is really just administrative, and as long as everything proposed is legal, the plan will be given the OK. He did mention however that the whole entrance of Summerlake was going to need to be redesigned. He said that it will be very similar to the entrance's by the Speedway on US 27 (near the old Thriftway, and across from Little Red Schoolhouse) and the entrance to Walgreens across from Wal-Mart. It will have 2 dedicated lanes coming in, one that will be left turn only to get into Dollar General, and one that will go straight ahead into the subdivision. He said there will also be 2 lanes going out, one dedicated left turn only, and one dedicated right turn only. He said that the 1st island you come to in the subdivision will be torn out and replaced with a different one. I asked him if my tax dollars were going to pay for all of this work and he assured me the cost would be covered by the developer. I also asked him if they were going to get a separate entrance and exit from and onto US 27 like Walgreens and Speedway, but he said no, the state of Kentucky will not allow any "additional curbage" that close to the intersection of US 27. So the only way in and out of the Dollar General will also be the only way in and out of Summerlake Drive. He assured me that the City of Alexandria has rules and laws governing the condition of the stores in their city, and that Dollar General would be held to the same high standards as the rest of the businesses now operating in the city. He did mention however that most of the zoning enforcement that is done is done as a direct result of complaints. So if we see something in the future that we don't like, the best way to take action is to email the city Zoning Administrator Carol Hofstetter (who I have dealt with on other matters of abandon homes in our neighborhood, and I must say she has always been very prompt and courteous in her responses to my emails). He concluded by saying that he would allow one member of our community (me) a chance to address the P&Z commission so that our sentiments can go on record as opposing the site. But he made it very clear that it would not influence the outcome of the commission's ruling. And that no more than one person will be allowed to speak in opposition of the site since in his words, "that is not the time or place" to speak out. He also said that he would personally address the Dollar General representative and let them know what kind of opposition he has encountered with the store and remind the Dollar General store rep. that they better "mind their P's and Q's" or they will have numerous complaints filed against them. Mr. Jewell said that he empathizes with our community, but beyond that, there is nothing that he can do for us. I thanked him for his time and hung up the phone feeling slightly defeated, but also more determined than ever.

Tuesday afternoon I was busy in my office when my cell phone rang. Not knowing the number, and already deep in a conversation on my work phone, I let the call go to voice mail. Several minutes later when I checked the message I was surprised to hear that it was from Steve Brimner, Vice President of Store Operations and Store Development for Dollar General. He said that he appreciated my email and would like to speak with me. After work I called Steve's number and left a voice mail for him to call me back. 10 minutes later Steve called and we had a good conversation. He was very pleasant and mentioned several times how grateful he was for my email. He said that he wanted to assure me that Dollar General was now aware of the conditions of the stores in my email, and that maintenance crews had already been dispatched to the stores to get them in shape. He said that he was new to his job, having been at it less than 6 months, and he had not personally visited any of the stores. He wanted to assure me that the things I took pictures of at the other stores would be fixed, and never allowed to happen at the store in front of Summerlake. Before parting ways, I let him know the extreme opposition to building a store that they are facing from our neighborhood, and also how bad DG's reputation in our area is. I told him that although I could not speak for everyone, the only thing that I personally want is a good neighbor at the front of our subdivision. I told him that for the most part, the demographics of our subdivision were people between the ages of 30 and 45 who have worked hard all their life to build a home of their dreams and they have finally found a community good enough to raise children in, and probably retire in. The other demographic in our community seems to be 60+ year olds that have worked hard all of their lives and have finally found a place that they would like to retire. Either way, we are not a subdivision made up of renters and people that only plan on staying here for a year or two before moving on. Most of the residents that are here now will still be here 5, 10, or 15 years down the road. So if they upset us now, it's not something that will go away overnight. I told him that the I want the first guests to my house after the store opening to come to my house and tell me how wonderful the store at the front of my subdivision looks. I do not want people to come to my house and express disgust that there is just another ugly Dollar General store at the front of our subdivision. I asked him what kind of plans they have in mind for their store. He told me that it will be one of the nicest Dollar General's in the country. It will be brick siding, with a nice large awning, and a very nice fence to divide the neighborhood from the store. I told him that at this point I still have my doubts that they can run a nice store in front of our subdivision, but I hope more than anything that he will prove me wrong and stand behind his word to make our Dollar General the nicest one around.He then invited me to meet with the developer, review the plans for the store, and address any of my concerns to her. He said he would also like me to let him know what my concerns were and although he could not promise to accommodate my every wish, he would take any suggestions into consideration. I accepted his offer to meet with the developer, and I thanked him for his time. He once again said he appreciated my interest and my email, and that if I ever needed anything, be it one week or 5 years down the road, to not hesitate to call or email him any time.

At this time I have a tentative meeting with the developer, Ms Susan Cox, on Monday August 29th.

I have also been in touch with someone who works for the Cincinnati Enquirer and KY Post and there is potentially some interest in our story/plight against Dollar General.

I am happy to report over 300 individual hits to this website. Please pass it on to anyone you know that might be interested. Let's keep the heat turned up, together there is no telling what we might accomplish.

For more information, or to volunteer to help, please email me at volffas@gmail.com

Thank you!

Andy Schabell