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Tuesday, 29 November 2005 05:35 |
By DAVID FORBES
Greenlife Grocery has tried to work with the surrounding community to address complaints about its loading docks ?±?± and would be willing to consider mediation ?±?± but faces harassment by one neighborhood resident and limits from the site and position of its building, co-owner John Swann stated during a Nov. 15 presentation to Asheville City Council.
?®You have heard a lot from one individual, Reid Thompson, who owns several houses on Maxwell Street behind our store and has been very vocal in his criticism of Greenlife,?∆ Swann said. ?®We are well aware that opening our store brought a level of activity to the neighborhood that it hadn??t seen in many years, and we have taken many steps to address the concerns of our neighbors.?∆
However, he said that Thompson??s actions had been unreasonable and even criminal in some cases.
?®Shortly after the store opened, we began getting reports that Mr.
Thompson had been stopping our delivery trucks in the street, moving
his vehicles so as to block access to our loading dock and verbally and
physically harassing our employees, delivery drivers and contractors in
a threatening and intimidating manner, often using abusive and foul
language,?∆ Swann asserted. ?®Employees reported that Mr. Thompson had
approached them in a likewise threatening manner and that they had
witnessed Mr. Thompson climbing up on trucks and harassing the drivers
through their windows.?∆
Multiple times, Swann said, he and the other store-owners approached
Thompson, to no avail, and the Asheville Police Department has
responded to ?®dozens?∆ of incidents involving him.
The most recent incident, Swann said, occurred on Oct. 11 and involved
Thompson reportedly flashing his camera in the eyes of a delivery truck
driver. The ?®physical altercation?∆ that resulted led to assault charges
that Thompson is now facing.
Moreover, Swann asserted, Thompson has lodged complaints with the Noise
Ordinance Appeals Board, the Buncombe County Health Department and the
Air Pollution Control Board ?? complaints that have all been dismissed.
Greenlife has attempted to negotiate with Thompson. In fact, Swann
said, ?®Last summer, at the suggestion of City Councilman Jan Davis, we
agreed to enter mediation with Mr. Thompson, but Mr. Thompson refused
that offer as well.?∆
Meanwhile, Swann asserted, the company has tried to address Thompson??s
concerns by measures ranging from buying trash compactors instead of
dumpsters to reduce noise and installing a seven-foot privacy fence
behind its loading area.
Swann added that Greenlife has been working to address the truck noise
by instructing its drivers to not use Maxwell Street when they come to
the store. He asserted that Greenlife has ?®worked with the city traffic
engineer, the (Asheville) Police Department and our delivery drivers to
get trucks in and out of our loading area with the minimum disruption
of local traffic.?∆
However, he noted that one of the delivery companies uses trucks that
are too large to easily get into Greenlife??s loading area without
damage and have drivers who drive straight from California, making
their arrival time difficult to predict, therefore making it difficult
for Greenlife to reliably unload them before store hours, as they do
with the other trucks.
He added that the location of the loading dock ?®has not moved significantly since an A&P (store) used it in the 1960s.?∆
The owners, Swann said, are willing to entertain ?®any reasonable suggestion?∆ to address neighborhood
concerns.
Councilman Jan Davis asked what Greenlife was doing to improve the situation with the trucks arriving from California.
?®They show up when they show up, and that is a real problem for us,?∆
Swann replied. ?®We have asked them to do what they can. They have
responded that they are re-evaluating their dispatch system so they
have a truck that??s dedicated to getting to our location on time.?∆
Councilwoman Terry Bellamy asked Swann if he would be willing to go
into mediation again with the landowners near him and Thompson.
Swann replied that he would be willing to re-enter mediation.
Bellamy also asked if any thought had been given to moving the loading dock to the other side of the building.
In reply, Swann said that such a move is impossible.
?®There??s a very, very steep slope there, almost 15 feet,?∆ Swann said.
?®To get a truck in there, we??d have to slope it off, and that??s
prohibitive. It would need our drastic reconfiguration.?∆
In separate remarks, Bellamy asked Swann if it was true that Greenlife
has exceeded what is allowed under its
original building permit.
Swann answered that the architect for the building ?®followed the letter and spirit of the law.?∆
Davis noted that ?®I think all of us in this room want that neighborhood
to be able to enjoy the good of Greenlife being there without the
aggravation of it.?∆
In other action, council:
?ÿ Discussed updating a 10-year-old emergency plan and possibly spending
$692,835 to establish a flood operations plan to prepare areas along
the Swannanoa River and establish a more coherent procedure for raising
the floodgates.
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