The Warrenton Board of Aldermen heard from a group representing Dollar General at their June 18 meeting. The retailer has plans to open another location in Warrenton at the intersection of Highway 47 and Isabella Drive. 

There are already two dollar stores in Warrenton including a Dollar Generals. In total there are six within the county.These do include several Dollar General Markets, which do offer a wider variety of products.

The group already faced opposition from the Warrenton Planning and Zoning Commission who decided to approve a positive recommendation for the preliminary plat, but not the site plan. One point of contention has been that the store is looking to maintain an entrance on Isabella Drive instead of Highway 47. 

Elizabeth Lum of Amundsen Davis Law delivered a presentation on the proposed Dollar General and pointed out that the retail store is well within the acceptable use limits for the property which is zoned as C-2 commercial. 

She enumerated some of the acceptable uses outside of a Dollar General that would be acceptable under the current guidelines including a gas station, or even a marijuana dispensary. 

Lum questioned whether the city would prefer a Dollar General or something else on the property. 

“Some of the other permitted uses include what’s listed here, a probation office, outpatient clinics, hotels, motels, parking garages, big box stores, so there are a variety of uses some of which may be less desirable in the residential area,” Lum said. 

She also pointed out that the board required a legal reason to deny their proposals even with the recommendations from P&Z. Regardless of that point she said that her clients were still asking that they table the second readings for both the preliminary plat and the site plan. 

This will delay the decision on the new store until the board’s next meeting on July 2.

Lum did not explain why they decided to table the motion saying only that they were tabling.