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From top-notch to 'step down'

Commissioners voice concerns over proposed changes to new Lowe's store in Sherrills Ford.

DIFFERENCES IN ORIGINAL PLAN, PROPOSED CHANGES

Original plan showed four parcels — three outparcels and the Lowe’s store

New plan shows no outparcels, only the Lowe’s store

Original setback from N.C. 150 is 520 feet

New plan shows the store about 315 feet from the highway

Original plans show a 500-foot-wide by 400-foot-deep building (or almost 173,000 square feet)

New plan shows a 580-foot-wide by 290-foot-deep building (or about 155,500 square feet)

Original plan shows a wall sign that would be blue during daylight hours and white during nighttime hours

New plan proposed to change the sign to a white design on blue background

Commissioners refused to accept this proposed change

New plan shows a 60-foot tall pylon sign with an area of 278 square feet.

The new sign was not accepted by commissioners

Original plan called for a facade that created screening for outdoor storage/display areas

New plan took away these screening decorations

Commissioners did not agree with taking away the screening.

By Dee Henry | Hickory Daily Record

Published: August 25, 2008

NEWTON - When Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse made its original pitch to Catawba County commissioners back in February, the idea was to create a top-notch store.

But when proposed changes to the plans were presented to commissioners during their Aug. 18 meeting, some board members balked, insisting some things stay the same.

"It showed a beautiful facade," Commissioner Glenn Barger said of the original plans. "It would have been, if built that way, a flagship store for Lowe's."

The revised plan, created due to financial restraints according to company spokespeople at the meeting, called for the elimination of three outparcels shown in the original plans and some ornamental elements of the facade.

Chairwoman Kitty Barnes and board member Lynn Mull Lail voiced concern over the changes, especially the request for a new type of sign on the property.

"I think it's a real step down from the original proposal and I'd like to see the detail remaining," Lail said.

"I'm not happy with the pylon sign," Barnes said of the newly requested 148-square-foot, 60-foot tall sign. "It's so front and center and now it won't be screened by the outparcels."

The new plans show the store to be set back 315 feet from N.C. 150 East in Sherrills Ford, rather than the original 520 feet.

An attempt at preserving an endangered plat species found behind the store was cited as the reason for that change.

The size of the store was reduced to just short of 173,000 square feet from a little more than 155,000 square feet. The changes show the building's dimensions as 500 feet wide by 400 feet deep rather than 580 feet wide and 290 feet deep.

The reduction in size would reduce the number of employees at the store from the original 175 to 125. That reduction was also cited as a concern of the commissioners.

Matthew Minton, a Lowe's representative at the meeting, said the reason behind the changes were financial.

"I'm the last person to want to stand up here and present something other than the plan we presented before, but given the current financial environment, the company decided to suggest these changes."

Catawba County Planning Director Jacky Eubanks said the changes came as a disappointment to his staff. The location on N.C. 150 East is already in a high exposure area and destined for more vehicles as N.C. 16 is developed out that far. The completion of N.C. 16 is not expected for a few years, late 2010 or early 2011.

"So we want to put our best foot forward," Eubanks said. "We want people to come to Catawba County because of the quality of life."