The planning board voted 8-2 Tuesday to deny the 203,000-square-foot, 24-hour supercenter at N.C. 16 and Thornburg Road, near Interstate 40's Exit 132. The planning board asked the council to study the Wal-Mart's economic impact on downtown Conover before making a final decision.
The board also opposed rezoning a portion of land for the project, which includes a gas station and five outlying buildings.
Although it's rare for the council to go against the planning board's recommendations, it has happened, Conover Planning Director Christopher Niver said.
Niver and the city's planning staff recommended approving the Wal-Mart, saying it met or exceeded all requirements, but board members raised concerns about the project's size and effect on other shopping districts.
Tuesday's meeting attracted an overflow crowd, and speakers from both sides received applause. But a majority opposed the project, questioning Wal-Mart's business practices, the need for a store in Conover, traffic and crime issues, and the appearance of the proposed store.
To conform to zoning that requires a "perceived" appearance of 80,000 square feet or less, the Wal-Mart is designed to look like a series of distinct storefronts, painted in colors such as "analytical gray" and "trusty tan."
"From the front, it no longer looks like a big box," Niver said, prompting laughter from the crowd.
"I guess you can take a hippopotamus and put it in an Easter Bunny outfit, but you've still got a hippopotamus," resident Ed Lethcoe said.
Wal-Mart's engineers called the store "a wonderful foundation for the future development in that area," which was rezoned as a commercial corridor in 1998.
Board member Lee Moritz, however, said he felt a big-box store violated the spirit of the 1998 plan, which was intended to promote a village-style project. But that was always subject to change, Niver said.
Others worried about how the arrival of the world's largest retailer would affect Conover's small-town character. Resident Candy Hess spoke warmly of seeing familiar faces at the local bank, drugstore and restaurants and called Wal-Mart not just a big box, but a Pandora's box.
"Once it is open, it cannot be closed again," she said. "Wal-Mart is not a convenience store you drop on every corner."
Niver, Wal-Mart representatives and some residents argued the town needed the tax revenue and the 300 or more jobs Wal-Mart would bring, especially in the wake of manufacturing layoffs.
"You've got to have the opportunity to let Conover grow," said Leroy Lail, who owns part of the property the store would be built on. "This looks like a really good plan."
But others were skeptical the project would benefit the town in the long run. "There's always talk of creating jobs, but Wal-Mart's why we lost those jobs in the first place," resident Shane Lynch said. "(A Wal-Mart will) kill as many as it creates. We are turning into a society that shops ourselves out of work."
Meanwhile, Wal-Mart representatives said they'd go forward.
"Obviously, we're disappointed the planning commission voted against it," said Glen Wilkins, Wal-Mart community affairs manager. "We feel we brought a very good project to the city of Conover. We're hopeful, and we will take it to the City Council."
The council will vote on the project Sept. 6. The planning staff will still recommend approval, Niver said.
