Cary considering adding yet another grocery store
CARY, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Town of Cary, already known as the grocery capital of North Carolina, may be getting yet another store - and it could spark another battle with homeowners.
A second Wegmans store is now in the works, before the first one even opens.
Homeowners are questioning the impact of a 33-acre development at the intersection of Davis Drive and Airport Boulevard, just outside the Twin Lakes subdivision.
Some west Cary residents shopping at the next-nearest grocery store, a Food Lion, were excited by the prospect of a Wegmans less than a mile away, though.
"[I was] excited to hear that one is coming this way!" said Cary resident Stacey Parks.
A map on file with the Cary planning department shows not just a Wegmans at the site, but other developments including more retail, residential, and office space.
Directly behind the site is the Twin Lakes subdivision, where the Earl twins played Thursday afternoon with their mother, Maggie Earl.
"It's nice to have a specialty grocery store nearby," Maggie Earl commented. "I've heard about them from family members up North."
But, like so many other homeowners who have found out about plans for large commercial developments nearby, Earl is concerned.
"If Wegmans was here, it probably would get some of our business, 'cause it would be nice and close," Earl stated. "But, I'm not willing to have this convenience at the cost of increased traffic. We live in a gridlocked area."
Earl says without plans to clear up already packed roads, she's not sure she and her neighbors can get behind it. Others who live a little further away aren't as concerned about the traffic.
"That's always a consideration, but they're expanding the roads and I think growth equals opportunity," Parks said.
This proposed development is only in the preliminary stages. Wegmans officials, who have already announced a store in east Cary near the Raleigh border, told ABC11 they are looking at several sites in the Raleigh-Durham market for another store. But, until a deal is firm, they won't announce the next location.
