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Greenlife Grocery
70 Merrimon Ave.
(828)254-5440
E-mail

Owner: John Swan

Related References:

CAN Letter to City Manager

Audio of John Swan's message to Maxwell Street Residents

Complete List of UDO Violations
PowerPoint Presentation (8Mb)
Neighborhood Flyer (09/20/05)

Contact:

If you have information that should be on this site, or corrections to information displayed please contact us.

Updated: 01/14/07

Problem resolution in the works? Here's the latest covered in detail by the Mountain Express:
http://www.mountainx.com/news/2007/010908maxwell/

Updated: 10/09/05

Greenlife Grocery: A bad neighbor for local residents.

NOTE: more information needed on this issue. If you have facts or letters to and from city council/staff or Greenlife you would like to share, please contact us:

PROBLEM
For more than a year, the new Greenlife grocery store at 70 Merrimon Ave. has degraded the quality of life of Maxwell Street residents by constructing their loading and dumpster area along the neighborhood side of the building with little to no buffer.

Three to four times a week between 3 and 5 am, an 18 wheeler has squeezed up the narrow Maxwell St. with its refrigeration unit running, waking residents, blocking traffic, destroying sidewalks and polluting the neighborhood.

Greenlife has removed public parking along the already crowded street (a broken promise from part of their permitting process) to use for truck maneuvering and loading.

The refrigeration units on Greenlife's roof do not have adequate sound abatement and cause serious noise pollution 24 hours a day. The Noise Ordinance Board initially promised to closely monitor the situation and recommended several actions for Greenlife none of which have been pursued. On the second trip to the Noise Board, the city attorney got up and whispered in the Chairman's ear at which point the hearing was over with no explanation. On the third trip to the Noise Board the city had the complaints dismissed without a hearing. The neighborhood has no faith in the Noise Board.

UDO Code Violations: Complete List

Per the UDO, the loading dock should never have been located on Maxwell St. because it is a residential street and there are two other access points from commercial streets. The planning director decided it was not a residential street despite the UDO, city council, and the traffic engineer stating that Maxwell St. is a residential street for the purpose of thru truck traffic.

The loading area and dumpsters are not adequately buffered from the neighbors. Trucks are allowed to park in the buffer area, the screening (plants, fences, etc) is inadequate, and staff has exceeded their authority by allowing the the buffer area to be reduced in size.

An ugly 6' fence was erected zero inches from the sidewalk to screen the neighbors view of the loading and dumpster area. The UDO requires a 5 foot planting strip in front of the fence with plants screening 50% of the fence.

Safety visibility triangles violated: in direct violation of the UDO, fences and parked semi-trucks block the view of drivers and pedestrians causing a safety hazard.

The driveways on Maxwell and Merrimon are two times the allowable maximum width without approval by the Board of Adjustments.

Parking has been removed from the street in violation of Greenlife's permit, the city's promise, and without a public hearing. The 'No Parking' zones are used by Greenlife for truck maneuvering, staging area, and truck loading and unloading. The loading bay is supposed to be designed to have enough room for truck maneuvering and it is illegal for trucks of this size to be parked on the street.

The Police Chief has refused to enforce the UDO including trucks illegally parked on the sidewalk and street and has in fact written a letter instructing his officers NOT to enforce the law as well as making up new laws to allow Greenlife to continue harming the neighborhood (see CAN Letter to City Manager).

SECOND PROBLEM
The city has not required Greenlife to go through the proper process which would have allowed public input.

The city attorney has vigorously attempted to deny any public hearing or appeal to the Board of Adjustment, Noise Ordinance Board, or to city council.

City Council members have not taken united action to resolve the safety, noise and other UDO violations caused by Greenlife or to come to the aid of residents in need.

City council and staff have been reluctant to act, perhaps because Greenlife's Legal representative is none other than Mayor Charles Worley.
http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/Corporations/Corp.aspx?PitemId=5710259

OBVIOUS ANSWER
Move the loading dock at Greenlife to the SouthEast side of the building.

Direct action by a unified city council is needed to insure Greenlife's compliance to the UDO and to ensure the systemic problems are corrected.

COUNCIL'S ACTION SO FAR
Several members of council have spoken to residents in need including Brownie Newman, Holly Jones, Terry Bellamy, and Jan Davis.

Brownie, Terry, and Holly arranged for a 10 minute presentation at the Council's Sept 20 work session. Council requested City Staff to respond to the neighbors bullet list.

Further information needed here. Please correct or add to our information if you can..

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Contact Greenlife and let the manager or owner know your thoughts about this issue:

Greenlife Grocery
70 Merrimon Ave.
(828)254-5440
E-mail

Owner: John Swan
Manager: Hugh Bradburn

Provide information concerning the construction costs at Greenlife. Despite a submitted construction cost of $12 per square foot (hard and soft costs) the city has refused to investigate.

Letters to and from Council and Residents
See the Mail Bag

MORE INFORMATION NEEDED: has this issue made it to the local papers yet?

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Asheville, NC 28802
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