Market still keen on Hillsborough

Residents still want a Weaver Street location downtown

Sitting among lime green "I [heart] My Co-op" balloons, Hillsborough residents sent up a cheer Thursday night to reassurances that the Weaver Street Market grocery cooperative still planned to open a store in Hillsborough, despite the Board of Adjustment's recent denial of plans that would bring the market to Churton Street.

"We want to be in Hillsborough no matter what," Claudia Tolan, manager of the co-op's Carrboro store, told a crowd of 150 in the Big Barn at The Shops at Daniel Boone.

Folks came to hear more about the market's plans -- and to put up more than $3,000 in new ownership fees and special "founding shares" to raise money for the future Hillsborough location.

For several years Weaver Street Market and its supporters have wanted a Hillsborough store. The co-op bought property on downtown's West Margaret Lane in 2002, but was later invited to occupy the bottom floor of a future three-story building on Churton Street called the Gateway Center. But the Board of Adjustment last month voted down the proposed change to the center's site plan.

Many of those in attendance said the location on Churton Street, downtown's main drag, would boost the market's presence as a community hub. They want their own version of what the market has brought to Carrboro: a vibrant lawn where moms with babies enjoy midmorning soy lattes, students surf the Web, and the occasional drum circle forms.

Tom Campanella, a member of the town's planning board and an assistant professor in city and regional planning at UNC-Chapel Hill, said a market in Hillsborough "would be the crown jewel of downtown revival."

"If there's anything we teach our students, it's the importance of sustaining our historic downtowns," Campanella said as he signed a credit card receipt for a $100 founding share.

Tolan said management was optimistic that the co-op may still open in the Gateway Center. The developer has sued to appeal the Board of Adjustment's decision.

Two of the board's five members voted down the plans, citing traffic concerns. Four votes were needed for approval.

The co-op estimates it will cost $3.3 million to open in Hillsborough. It wants to raise $700,000 from community members, with about $600,000 of that coming from interest-bearing loans.

The remaining $100,000 will be raised through recruiting 500 new owners, who pay a refundable fee of $75 to $175 and receive a 5 percent discount on most items. The co-op is asking the new owners, as well as existing ones, to buy an additional founding share for $100.