Dollar General has no current plans to locate a new store in Meridian, a company spokesperson said Wednesday.

    “We don’t have a new lease signed for Meridian,” said Emily Weiss, a spokesperson for Dollar General. “We don’t have plans for a new store in Meridian.”

    “We’re always looking for opportunities to grow in a number of communities around the country,” Weiss said, when asked if this meant there were plans to locate a new Dollar General here, but the plans had been cancelled. “It’s our policy not to respond to real estate speculation.”

    News that Dollar General was going to locate a store at the intersection of 22nd Street and 24th Avenue raised an outcry from residents of the nearby historic neighborhood of Poplar Springs. Residents there opposed the store because they believed it would damage the charm and ambience of the neighborhood, decrease property values, and increase tractor-trailer traffic in an already congested area.

    The store location was the object of a recent moratorium by the City Council, which would have effectively stopped building permits in about a 100-block area, but Mayor Cheri Barry vetoed it.

    John Griffin, a resident of the neighborhood, said he is relieved to hear the news there are no current plans according to Dollar General.

    “I and certainly the people who have been working to get attention focused on the issue, are pleased to hear that they have no plans to build in Meridian,” Griffin said. “That’s great news for the present but it doesn’t alleviate our sense of urgency regarding getting some permanent protection for the historic district. We still have a long-term concern for other potential threats of inappropriate businesses locating on the borders of the district.”

    Saying there are no plans for a Dollar General in that location doesn’t mean there won’t be plans for it, however, or plans for something similar. The property now houses an abandoned car wash and is zoned B-2, which allows for businesses such as Dollar General to locate there.

    This is the second location Dollar General has considered lately. Investors originally wanted to place the Dollar General in the Mid-Town Historic Business District, alongside the area’s more than 75 businesses. The Mid-Town site would have required rezoning, and the Dollar General store would have been a brick building with a historic facade. This plan was approved unanimously by the City Planning Commission, but denied unanimously by the City Council.

    Councilman Bobby Smith represents Ward 5, which includes the Poplar Springs District and the Mid-Town Historic District.

    “I would love to see them in Meridian but not in our historical districts,” Smith said Wednesday, referring to Dollar General.

    Smith said the property at 22nd and 24th should never have been zoned for B-2.

    “Somebody slipped up years and years ago and zoned it this way,” Smith said. “I’m sorry they don’t want to build in Meridian, but they have plenty of other places in Meridian to build.”

    City Council president George Thomas said he is disappointed if this means the city will not get a new business.

    “I hate that they’re not going to build another store in Meridian,” Thomas said. “We could generate a lot of sales taxes and some jobs. I wish they were coming. They provide a good service that a lot of people use.”

    Attorney Bill Hammack confirmed that he represents the property owners, Virginia and Bill McWilliams, but said he could not speak for them. They have been unavailable for comment. At a June City Council meeting, Mrs. McWilliams defended their plans to sell the property to a developer for a store, saying they would protect their investment if the sale was blocked.

    Dollar General has several stores in and around Meridian: at 832 Highway 19 North; at 6650 North Hills Street, at 2940 North Hills Street; at 9806 Highway 495; at 5065 Highway 145; at 2405 Highway 19 South; at 5584 Highway 19 North; and at 1808 North Frontage Road. There is also one in Marion, at 5314 Dale Drive.