A request for an ABC store has been temporarily withdrawn to acquire a zoning change on the proposed tract on N.C. 150.
While the liquor store has met with local opposition, Catawba County ABC Board Chairman Randy Isenhour said those concerns had little to do with the withdrawal.
"The request has been withdrawn temporarily," Isenhour said, meaning the issue has been taken off the state ABC Board's agenda until the changes are approved. "We have a contract to purchase the property."
Isenhour said the ABC Board would like to purchase about 1.5 acres of a 5.4-acre tract at 7947 N.C. 150 East in Terrell. The property is owned by TVD, LLC, out of Black Mountain, Isenhour said.
Isenhour couldn't give a date on when the rezoning request would come before the Catawba County Planning Board or what the property is currently zoned. According to the county's GIS Web site, the property is zoned County Residential 20, which would prohibit the sale of beer, wine or liquor.
Isenhour said the board was looking to rezone the property for mixed use so the proposed liquor store could be built on the site.
Terrell resident and business owner Mike Roth remains concerned about the ABC store, which would be beside his marketing firm, MDR and Associates. His main concern is ABC customers needing to make a left turn on a road with no turn lane.
"My main opposition is that it's a foolish location due to the safety factor," said Roth, who has been fighting the store since December.
He thinks a community meeting where a vote was taken concerning the store would be the way to handle the situation. He feels slighted that, as a neighbor to the store, he wasn't informed of the proposed use of the property.
"The logical location would be on the other side of the road," he said. "If the goal of an ABC store is to sell, then the best location for it would be on Slanting Bridge Road."
Isenhour said the board had considered Slanting Bridge Road, but said the type of development going into that area did not accommodate an ABC store.
"And it's closer to our existing store in Maiden, so we'd rather the store be closer to Mooresville," Isenhour said.
Isenhour, a criminal attorney in Newton, is used to the controversy ABC stores create, but said people need to realize what the board's purpose is.
"The ABC system is set up to control the sale of alcoholic beverages, not to promote it," he said.
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