To the Editor,

There are plans to build a Dollar General on N.C. 72 East across from Long Branch School. We know the citizens will be concerned with the many impacts that this can have and we share those concerns. We are particularly concerned with the safety of the school children and the parents, residents and visitors who must drive through that area.

Dollar General stores target low income areas to bring affordable products within reach. While an admirable goal, the development of these low-cost, thinly-staffed stores also makes them a target for crime. Entering “Crime at Dollar General stores in NC” into an internet search engine yields more than 125,000 results with stories indicating armed robberies in Lumberton, Fayetteville, Rockingham, Greensboro and more. In the Lumberton area, three stores were robbed in two days in November 2017; four men robbed a store at gunpoint in January 2018; an armed robbery occurred at a store on June 12, 2019; and, a break-in occurred at a Fairmont store in September.

In addition to criminal activity surrounding such low income establishments, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a national nonprofit, published a study which found that “dollar stores target poor urban neighborhoods and rural areas. It creates an overall sense of the neighborhood being run-down. It’s a recipe for locking in poverty rather than alleviating it.”

These low-cost national chain stores rarely offer fresh and healthy food choices yet have hurt business at locally owned groceries, markets and stores, sometimes to the extent that the locally owned and operated stores have closed. The location of a store hurts the values of residential properties nearby.

With 12 locations already in existence in our area, there is a Dollar General within driving distance for us all. The additional traffic that a store located directly across from Long Branch School will bring will create a nightmare scenario.

The traffic count for 72 East in 2018 was found to be 4,700 cars per day. Add to that the traffic coming from other nearby areas to patronize a Dollar General and we could all experience gridlock.

We know you may have additional questions or wish to voice your own concerns so we invite you to attend a meeting at 5 p.m.. on Monday at 701 N. Elm St. in Lumberton during which we will all have an opportunity to be heard, or call your county commissioner and let your voice be heard.

This letter was submitted by Cindy Kern on behalf of a group called Concerned Long Branch Residents.