At Wednesday’s Bossier Parish Police Jury meeting, the Jury approved for a new Dollar General to be located at the corner of Bethlehem Road and 157.
Prior to the jury voting on this matter, the jury heard from Dan Purvis, Vice President of Retail Development at Ratcliff Development, LLC and opposition from local residents regarding the build.
Purvis addressed the jury first.
“I just wanted to talk about a few things. One is we may hear about safety today. What we had to depend on is the Department of Transportation to keep our roadways safe here in Louisiana. And that we have a plat for a permit from them and have received it back on Sept.16. I also just wanted to quickly mention Dollar General. In light of recent events in our world now with the pandemic, Dollar General has been deemed an essential business,” Purvis said.
“We did some poll work in the area. Over 2,500 people were polled on Facebook and through that, about 84% said that they would love to see a national retailer in that area,” he added
Soon after Purvis’s remarks to the jury, Haughton resident, Linda Shaw, then addressed the jury with remarks on why the store should not be built in that location.
“We moved to the country to be in the country. We have a beautiful place, I love it. There’s not a lot of traffic. But putting a nationwide commercial business in my neighborhood is not what I moved there for. I would like to keep the peace and quiet of the country to be that way,” said Shaw.
Following Shaw’s remarks Haughton resident, Roxanne Barrage, addressed the jury.
“I’ve lived out there for 40 years. There is a small store across the street that has been there since I was 11 years old. And this big chain company is basically going to put them out of business. I don’t want to see that,” said Barrage.
District 4 Police Juror, John Ed Jorden, then addressed the jury and audience with his concerns.
“My deal is with it is it’s a safety hazard. I grew up in that area. Either way that you come, you’re coming into a blind curve, Jorden said.
“I recommend not to approve it,” he added.
Jorden then made a motion to not approve. Jorden’s motion was not seconded by another juror.
District 2 Police Juror, Glenn Benton, then made the motion to approve. District 12 Police Juror, Paul M. Plummer, seconded the motion.
The Jury also approved:
—The plat of the proposed development of Red Point Subdivision.
—The Minor Plat for Lucky Family Mission, Inc.
—The application of the Haughton Metropolitan Planning Commission to adopt the Unified Development Code.
