The Henniker planning board will review design plans tonight for a Dollar General store along Route 114 and a proposal for agritourism use at Forster’s Christmas Tree Farm.
Planning board member Dean Tirrell confirmed the company interested in the commercial space is Dollar General, a variety store chain with more than 12,000 stores in 43 states, according to its website.
Some local business owners and abutters to the proposed Dollar General site – a 2.6 acre lot at 123 Bradford Road for a 9,100 square-foot retail space – plan to attend the meeting and speak against the store.
Kevin Mock, the owner of Henniker Farm & Country Store across the street from the proposed site, is worried a Dollar General would hurt family-owned businesses in town, including his.
“Whether it comes, I’m not sure I have a say,” he said. “People are saying we kept Rite Aid out, maybe we can keep these guys out.”
It’s been almost 20 years since the drugstore corporation Rite Aid tried moving into town. Longtime residents probably remember the “Rite Aid/Wrong Town” bumper stickers and signs seen throughout Henniker. That store’s design was rejected by the planning board in 1998, and today the only major chains in town are a Dunkin’ Donuts on Route 202 near the Henniker/Hopkinton line and a Mobil gas station a couple of hundred yards south of the proposed Dollar General site.
The lot is zoned in a medium commercial district, and has been since 1986, Tirell said. He doesn’t expect tonight’s meeting to be exceptional in terms of attendance, but he’s prepared if more people decide to come out.
“Opinions are always welcome,” Tirrell said.
The board will also discuss Forster’s request to use his land for agritourism with events such as weddings. His lot is zoned in a rural residential district. On this year’s ballot, voters approved two separate articles that amend the definition of argitourism in the town’s zoning regulations; one proposed by the planning board and the other by petition from residents. Tonight’s planning board meeting is its first since the amendments were approved.
The planning board meets tonight at 7 at town hall.
(Nick Stoico can be reached at 369-3314, nstoico@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @NickStoico.)