MIDDLETOWN >> Dollar General came to the Middle Area Town Hall (MATH) to discuss the design for their proposed store after the Board of Supervisors denied the initial plan.
Cross Development, the contracted designer for Dollar General, has been attending different meetings around the county, including one in Lucerne, in order to gain more input from the public. With setbacks dealt to plans to build in Lucerne, Kelseyville and Middletown, the firm now intends to find some guidance from residents.
A representative for Cross Development, Joe Dell, came to show a new design and present reasons why the firm believes a new design fits better with the Middletown Area Plan (MAP).
“I am here tonight to present another design we’ve been working on for the proposed Dollar General in Middletown. The Use Permit has already been approved and we are here simply to work on design,” Dell said.
He added that with the number of approvals and denials that his company has gone through for this Dollar General they wanted to get some design ideas and feedback from the community.
“All designs presented from us or maybe even the community has been denied by the community. We are pretty much left to work in the confounds of the Middletown Area Plan to make the design work within the plan at some point. We’re going to hone in on where it’s at and it’ll have to be approved by the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors,” Dell said.
The goal Cross Development is working towards is to design a shopping center that Middletown and neighboring communities will support and like. They may not approve of the tenant there, but that has already been decided Dell said.
Updates to the plan are the elevation of the building, a 2,000 square footage reduction, additional wood accents, no metal panels on the building, additional shutters, more windows and other small details that make it more fitting to the MAP.
“The overall look and design of the building has changed drastically,” Dell said.
The color of the building is optional to the public since there is a specific scheme that does need to be followed to be in compliance with the MAP. Dell hopes this design will be passable for the community after being at this since 2015.
This store is looking to be located in downtown across from Middletown High School and Bible Church. The project consists of 23 paved parking spaces, circulation for delivery trucks, trash enclosure, lighting and two detention basins.
Specific aspects that were denied earlier this year for a Design Use Permit include the use of browns and tans, the elevation of the store, the parking lot location and the using of steel for the building rather than other materials.
The Board of Supervisors denied the Dollar General in Middletown earlier this year with a 3 to 2 vote in regards to it not following the MAP. Further discussion of this updated design will continue and brought before the Planning Commission at a later date.
