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Royal Farms is planning to build a gas station and restaurant with outdoor dining at the intersection of Allen and Stantonsburg Road, across from Zaxby’s and Cornerstone Missionary Baptist Church.

A Royal Farms business coming to Stantonsburg and Allen Roads will include a car wash, a restaurant selling chicken, subs and other fare and 16 gas pumps in four stands.

Royal Farms is planning to build a gas station and restaurant with outdoor dining at the intersection of Allen and Stantonsburg Road, across from Zaxby’s and Cornerstone Missionary Baptist Church.

A Royal Farms business coming to Stantonsburg and Allen Roads will include a car wash, a restaurant selling chicken, subs and other fare and 16 gas pumps in four stands.

A Baltimore-based convenience store known for its fried chicken will build a gas station with outdoor dining at Stantonsburg and Allen Roads with the blessing of Greenville’s Board of Adjustment.

The location in the Medical District is now the second for Royal Farms, which won approval last year to build a similar store on Greenville Boulevard at 14th Street. Construction has yet to begin on either location.

The adjustment board on Thursday granted the business a special use permit to operate the outdoor dining portion of the business. Zoning did not require a permit for the gas station and restaurant. The location sits across from a Zaxby’s chicken restaurant and Cornerstone Missionary Baptist Church.

The permit was granted to property manager Lee Hall Plaza Inc. for 2721 and 2701 Stantonsburg Road. Both are residential lots with stands of large trees and 12.54 acres of land. They have 450 feet of frontage along Stantonsburg and over 1,000 feet of frontage along Allen Road.

The Waterford Place apartment complex and other residential areas lie to the north along Stantonsburg and the Holly Glen development lies to the south along Allen Road. ECU Health Medical Center is to the east.

Gregory Schmitt, a civil engineer with Kimley-Horn of Raleigh, told the board he had worked with the N.C. Department of Transportation to ensure traffic impact meets city and state standards.

Elizabeth Blount, lead planner with Greenville Planning and Development Services, told Schmitt that both roadways fall under the state jurisdiction and the city is comfortable with the development and long as the corporation coordinates with DOT.

Board member Hunt McKinnon asked if trees on the property will be impacted by the construction of the outdoor dining area. Schmitt told him they likely would stay unless DOT removes them as part of its project to widen Allen Road into five lanes. McKinnon said the DOT project has been pushed back regularly since 2019.

The board voted unanimously to approve the permit with 11 staff recommendations for the outdoor dining area, which staff said complies with the city’s Horizons 2026 plan. Requirements include:

Obtaining the permit allows the station to proceed with obtaining subsequent plans and paperwork, staff said.

In addition to the outdoor dining area, the business will include a car wash, a restaurant selling chicken, subs and other fare and 16 total gas pumps in four stands.

Schmitt said he expects the project to be completed at the end of 2023. The driveway will be a right in/right out space per DOT regulations. A sidewalk may not be included depending on DOT’s requirement for a major thoroughfare.

Schmitt said it is expected the company will subdivide the property at a later date. The other property will feature another store to be determined later.

In September the board voted to allow a Royal Farms location to operate at 1600 S.E. Greenville Blvd. at its intersection with 14th Street. That location was expected to begin construction this year.

Royal Farms operates more than more than 200 stores in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia, according to the company’s website.

The board tabled a request from the owner of several businesses selling tobacco and smoking products until he can show he has resolved numerous infractions.

Raed Alhamer, who owns five businesses in Greenville and one in Winterville, asked to operate a Class 1 tobacco shop at 1210 Memorial Drive, which is near the Pitt-Greenville Airport.

He currently owns the Smoke Station at that location, which Blount said was operating without a special use permit to sell smoking apparatus like water pipes, hookahs and gas mask pipes. Those items can be sold only by a Class 2 tobacco shop.

Alhamer told the board he was unaware he needed a special use permit to sell the items because he was from out of state and because he has been able to sell the items at other businesses he operates.

Smoke Hub at 424 Evans St., formerly High Life and D’s Drive Thru at 2753 E. 10th St. were purchased when a Class 1 shop could sell the items and were grandfathered when rules changed, he said.

Staff in March sent Alhamer a notice of violation at the Smoke Station for selling unpermitted items. A second notice was sent in May asking him to contact the city by June 8 to discuss compliance. At an inspection on June 13, staff informed tenants all smoking apparatus had to be removed or covered.

On July 21 another inspection determined that the items were not covered except by an 8.5 by 11 sheet of paper stating products could not be sold. Pipes remained in the cases. Alhamer told the board that on July 23 they were covered.

Alhamer said he would be willing to comply. McKinnon noted that the property, as well as the Evans Street location, have LED signs that are out of regulation and called Alhamer’s behavior “a method” of renovating and seeking approval only after being found out of compliance.

The Smoke Station special use permit will be discussed again at the board’s Aug. 25 meeting. Alhamer said that his businesses create 37 jobs in the area.

Alhamer also was informed by staff that D’s Mart next to Angus Grill on Jarvis Street near the ECU campus is not permitted to operate in that location. Blount said discussions about that store are underway.

The board took the following actions in other business:

A request for a wine and craft beer store at 102 Arlington Blvd. by Chris and Kendra Loignon was pulled from Thursday’s agenda.

Contact Pat Gruner at pgruner@reflector.com and 252-329-9566.

www.Reflector.com 1150 Sugg Pkwy Greenville, NC 27834 Main Phone: 252-329-9500 Customer Care Phone: 252-329-9505

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