Drivers have probably noticed the clearing of trees and the demolition of two old buildings on Route 13 south across from Helen’s Sausage House, north of Smyrna.
What’s planned at the site is a Dollar General on 3.32 acres north of Black Diamond Road, said Alec Davis, a planner at the New Castle County Department of Land Use.
The entrance won’t be on the corner of Black Diamond Road and Route 13 because that northwest corner has some wetlands, Davis said.
The entrance/exit will be north of Black Diamond Road on Route 13, not at a crossover, with only right turns from Route 13 into the parking lot and right turns out of the parking lot onto the highway.
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The plan calls for a one-story, 10,640-square-foot commercial retail building with about 1 acre of impervious surfaces including the parking lot.
Toward the corner of Black Diamond Road, there will be a conservation easement of about 1.4 acres, part of the total of 2.01 acres of open space and landscaped surfaces including existing trees, with a stormwater area of .07 acres.
With the clearing of the site underway, the company plans to break ground on the building “in the coming weeks,” according to the corporation’s public relations department. No opening date has been set.
Company already has three locations in Smyrna-Townsend area
Dollar General is a familiar site in the area, with two stores a few miles south in Smyrna and one in Townsend a few miles north.
As for the reasons for opening a store between Smyrna and Townsend, the company said, “In selecting store sites, we take a number of factors into consideration, carefully evaluating each potential new store location to ensure we can continue to meet our customers’ price, value and selection needs.”
On average, each Dollar General store employs about six to 10 people.
The company has 51 locations in Delaware with more than 19,200 across the United States including Dollar General, DG Market, DGX and pOpshelf stores.
Reporter Ben Mace covers real estate and development stories. Reach him at rmace@gannett.com.
