A new Dollar General store will likely open in Dittmer before the end of the year.
The Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously July 9 to approve a variance that will allow the store to be built on a 1.47-acre lot at Hwy. 30 and Dittmer Catawissa Road.
The site now is mostly wooded with a single house on it.
The entrance to the store will be off Dittmer Catawissa Road at Dittmer Road, which comes in from the east and ends at Dittmer Catawissa Road.
Because of the hilly terrain, the entrance to the store will be as far back on the lot as possible and will form a three-way intersection with Dittmer Road.
The variance dealt with the county’s standards for stopping sight distances. County planner Cora Johnson said the 300-foot sight distance required for a stop is not possible at the site.
“The extreme terrain and curvatures of the roads make the sight distance impossible to achieve,” she said.
A traffic study contracted by the developer, DGOG Dittmer of West Plains, reached the same conclusion and recommended the entrance to the store be located in the back to make an all-way stop intersection, which the planning staff also recommended.
Rusty Doss, an engineer with the developer, said the new store will be a standard Dollar General.
According to the plans submitted to the county, the 9,084-square-foot store will have 45 parking spaces and will face
Dittmer Catawissa Road, rather than Hwy. 30.
Doss said it will likely be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, although a 7 a.m. opening is a possibility.
Amanda Dedehe, who lives on
Dittmer Road, said building the store at the site will make an already challenging driving situation more challenging.
“There are hills (on Dittmer Road) as you approach Dittmer Catawissa Road, and it’s not easy to see there, especially in bad weather. Traffic now backs up there in the mornings, especially during school. There’s a very steep hill to go down as you approach (Dittmer Catawissa Road). I don’t see where it would be safe for children to cross there.”
She said the speed limit on Dittmer Road is 30 mph “although most people don’t do it.”
Doss said making the intersection a four-way stop, rather than a stop only for westbound Dittmer Road drivers, should improve the safety.
“We acknowledge there is a problem with the hill (approaching the site) on
Dittmer Road,” he said. “But making that a four-way stop should be safer.”
Dennis Kehm Jr., assistant county services director, noted the developer will need to work with the Public Works Department to ensure the placement of appropriate signs, including one on Dittmer Road advising drivers of the impending stop.
The county already has three Dollar General stores along the Hwy. 30 corridor – in High Ridge, House Springs and in Cedar Hill.
The chain also has locations on the Hwy. 21 corridor, in Otto, Goldman, Hillsboro and De Soto, and along the Hwy. 61-67 corridor, in Arnold, Imperial, Barnhart, Pevely and Crystal City, plus one on Hwy. 61 south of I-55, and two on Hwy. 67, at Buck Creek Road and Hwy. JJ.