6/21/23: FIVE BELOW STORE MAY OCCUPY SPACE VACATED BY DOLLAR TREE IN MARKETPLACE; SPEED BUMPS PREDICTABLY REJECTED BY POLICE CHIEF.

A Five Below store may occupy the space in the Southern Shores Marketplace vacated by the Dollar Tree, Planning Director/Deputy Town Manager Wes Haskett revealed at Monday’s Planning Board meeting when he announced that the potential new business is seeking a variance from the Town’s sign requirements.

Five Below, Inc. is a large U.S. chain of “specialty discount stores that sells products that are less than $5, plus a small assortment of products from $6 to $25,” according to Wikipedia.

Founded in Philadelphia, Five Below sells a wide variety of merchandise—from room décor to toys and games to tech and beauty products to clothes, shoes, and fashion accessories, arts and crafts supplies, and more—that “is aimed at tweens and teens,” according to Wikipedia. (See also www.fivebelow.com.)

As of May 23, 2023, there were 1,385 Five Below stores in the United States, across 44 states, with the most being located in Texas (141) and Florida (138), according to ScrapeHero, a web data provider. The states without stores are Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, according to ScrapeHero.

Mr. Haskett said the Town Planning Board will be considering Five Below’s sign variance application, submitted by a sign company, at its July 17 meeting, which will held at 5 p.m. in the Pitts Center.

The Board also may have before it the special-use permit application submitted by the SAGA investor group, Ginguite LLC, on June 6 for its proposed mixed-use development of retail, office, and restaurant space and 36 luxury condominiums at 6195 N. Croatan Hwy. (U.S. 158), next to the Southern Shores Landing; a new zoning text amendment on the calculation of lot width (presumably, ZTA 23-05); and a proposed ordinance relinquishing Southern Shores’ extraterritorial jurisdiction over the commercial district of Martin’s Point.

Mr. Haskett said the Board will be taking up “the variance, for sure, the others, possibly.”

TOWN COUNCIL WORKSHOP

The good news from the Town Council’s morning workshop meeting yesterday is that the Council unanimously approved renewing Town Manager Cliff Ogburn’s employment contract for another three years.

The bad news is that Police Chief David Kole’s excessively negative report on the use of speed bumps/humps and his disparagement of residents’ ability to accurately assess speeds of vehicles on their streets again torpedoed any effort by the Town Council to address residents’ legitimate concerns about speeding that those of us who live near the affected streets know is prevalent.

We say again torpedoed because Chief Kole disputed claims by homeowners on South Dogwood Trail about speeding on that road in a June 21, 2022 Town Council workshop, using some of the same language he used yesterday. (See The Beacon, 6/23/22.)

Homeowners’ “perception of speed is different from reality,” the Chief said yesterday, once again relying on meaningless “average speed” statistics on implicated roads to conclude that “The data I have shows [sic] there’s not a speeding issue. I’m sorry.”

Chief Kole told the Town Council at the outset of his presentation that he was “not a big fan” of speed bumps and humps, and he proved that well-known fact yesterday.

As we stated earlier, he was a poor choice for a research assignment on the use of speed bumps/humps in Southern Shores. (The minimal use of such calming devices, not every half-mile on Wax Myrtle Trail or Sea Oats Trail.) A neutral person whose department is not responsible for enforcing speed limits in town should have handled it.  

The Town Council tabled any further discussion on speed bumps. We will write more about the Chief’s report and the Town Council’s response when we can bring ourselves to listen to the videotape again. The Chief’s report begins at the 44th minute of the You Tube meeting video. Check it out.

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 6/21/23