A South Carolina-based land development company planning to build a retail center inched closer to making it a reality Tuesday when the Statesville Board of Adjustment granted it a variance on a matter related to the buildings’ facades.
The variance request was actually made by Free Nancy LLC, a Statesville group that owns the 7.2 acres of land on which the two separate structures comprising the retail center — which will include four big-name retailers, its developer says —will be built.
The project will be constructed by the development group RealtyLink out of Greenville, S.C., which plans to purchase the property after the city signs off on it.
The matter before the Board of Adjustment involved the face on the rear of both buildings. Statesville ordinances require that the backs of buildings conform to certain aesthetic standards if they are visible from right-of-ways or parking lots, which was the case with this project, according to its plans.
But the very meaning of the word “visible” came into question during Tuesday’s meeting.
“How do we define visibility?” board member David Aman asked of City Planner Phil Collins.
Collins answered that if the side could be seen from the street or parking lot, it’s visible.
“And right now, it can be.”
But Shawn McClesky, with RealtyLink, said the company plans to screen the back of both buildings with trees, shrubs and fencing.
He said that in the case of one of the buildings — whose back outer wall would face Fourth Creek Landing, a private drive that serves as an entrance and egress road to an apartment complex — the city ordinance requires that the back facade of the building match the design of the front.
“And that means putting in glass and a lot of other things,” McClesky said in explaining that the added costs would make the project financially unfeasible.
Members of the board agreed with McClesky in that his company’s plans to conceal the back walls would be sufficient in lieu of the more decorative facade and voted unanimously to grant the variance.
The project will go before the Statesville City Council for final approval before the end of the year.
McClesky said after the meeting that RealtyLink is “finalizing leases with four nationally branded retailers.” He said he was not at liberty to talk specifically about the occupants of the nearly 68,000 square feet of interior space, but they include a pet supply store, an office supply store and an apparel store.
At last week’s Planning Board meeting, McClesky said he hoped to break ground on the project before the year ended and for the stores to be open in time for 2012 Christmas shopping season.
Note: Board of Adjustment Chairman Roy West was absent from the meeting, which would likely have been his last. West was elected to the Statesville City Council and will be sworn in next month.
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