On Tuesday morning, concerned citizens arrived at the Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners meeting to express their opinions on a proposed Dollar General store at Colorado Highway 145 and County Road N.
According to Teresa Hohbin, who owns a property neighboring the potential location for the Dollar General, said that at the previous commissioners meeting on March 14, only standing room was available because many citizens came to express their dissent.
Douglas O’Kinsey of Leaf Properties in Atlanta, Georgia, hopes to put the Dollar General on his 5-acre property.
“He’s here maybe two weeks out of the year. He doesn’t live here,” Hohbin said. “Why in God’s green earth do we need a Dollar General on the corner of 145 and N Road? We don’t need another. We have five between Dolores, Cortez and Mancos.”
A letter was given to Hohbin about a month ago informing her of the plans to build the Dollar General and catching her by surprise.
“About a month ago, I get a letter that they want to put a Dollar General on the corner,” Hohbin said. “I wouldn’t have known if it weren’t for that letter.”
Hohbin also said she was concerned about the store’s impact on her property and local wildlife, and noted that it would add light and noise pollution, and semitrailer traffic near her home.
“All that water that comes off that building and off that concrete pad is going to end up flooding my driveway,” she said.
Hohbin added that local deer, eagles, foxes and more would be forced to leave their homes because of the noise and people.
A petition has garnered nearly 500 signatures against the store.
Hohbin and other neighbors aren’t the only ones concerned about the location of the Dollar General site.
The Montezuma County Zoning and Planning Committee recommended that the building not be built, but O’Kinsey reportedly said he would continue to move forward with the plans.
“They’ve already put in flags for water and gas lines, they’ve had a surveyor out here twice,” Hohbin said.
Cortez Fire Protection District Chief Roy Wilkinson said in a letter to Montezuma County Planning Director Don Haley, “Cortez Fire Protection District has concerns regarding the water supply, response distance and wildfire spread in the case of a building fire. Being a commercial property, fire load and life safety would be concerns due to product storage, housekeeping and customer unfamiliarity of emergency procedures.”
In addition to the potential water issue, traffic patterns and movement would increase the probability of automotive accidents as delivery trucks and customers enter and exit the parking lot,” Wilkinson added.
“It’s a very dangerous highway,” Hohbin said. “(In case of fire) it would be at least 10 minutes before anyone could get there, and there’s a hay barn across the street. This is a farming community, and we want to keep it that way.”
Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin also weighed in with safety concerns.
“It’s going to create a major traffic problem. It’s dangerous,” Nowlin said. “We have rush hours here ,and school bus routes and people coming in and out of that business is going to cause traffic to be backed up and it’s going to cause aggressive driving. It’s not a safe intersection, period.”
“My major concern is traffic safety and the safety of everybody there,” Nowlin continued. “There’s a lot of agriculture business taking place there as well, and it’s just not conducive to that location. I’m concerned we’re going to end up with serious injury or fatality crashes.”
The commissioners will announce their decision on April 30 at 9 a.m., and there will not be time for public comment.
