CONWAY, S.C. (WBTW) – Plans for an Aldi grocery store off Highway 501 caused a lot of concern for some who live in the Wild Wing area.
People were very passionate Thursday night at Conway’s zoning meeting. They said they didn’t mind the grocery store coming. They mind the planned entrance to the store.
Barbara Eisenhardt lives in Wild Wing Plantation and planned to retire there.
“I had no idea in a million years that someone would come to us after the fact and say oh by the way, you know that beautiful property that you’re financially invested in, we actually are going to put a commercial thorough fair there regardless of the store, we’re going to put the main entrance on your street. How do you like that?”
Almost all those who attended the meeting Thursday, previously signed a petition saying they didn’t want the only entrance to the new grocery store in their neighborhood.
“They’re going to have tractor trailers that are delivering food and all kinds of other things to that property.”
Noise and inconvenience were not the main concerns.
“We have cars, by virtue of the pictures I showed you of the bad accident, we have cars that can’t negotiate the turns there, what do you think is going to happen when there are tractor trailers coming in and out there because there’s no other way to get in.”
Eisenhardt said she wasn’t properly notified about the coming changes. In fact she says she first found out by seeing a sign off of 501 that was barely legible. She also said no one is hearing her or her neighbors out.
“Instead of taking a few days or a few minutes or a few months, to look at this reality and update their thoughts, they’re ready to move forward with this and get the shovel in the ground before we have a chance to do anything to fix it.”
We asked Justin Spruill the director of real estate for Aldi what he thought about the residents’ concerns.
He said, “We want our store to be convenient and safe for customers. We want high quality groceries for the lowest possible price.”
The crowd made a lot of noise Thursday night and they plan to be heard again at Monday night’s council meeting.
“Respect the people that put you in office and listen to what they have to say. It’s the courteous thing to do and it’s the ethical thing to do. Thank you.”
At the meeting, the zoning board approved 80 paved parking spots and 4 unpaved spots for the new store. Aldi representatives also plan to bring a second Aldi to Conway. It would be located at the old Ryan’s steakhouse. The board approved 82 paved parking spots for that location.
