CAROLINA BEACH — Slow and steady might win the race, but it does not get the Town of Carolina Beach a new Harris Teeter. After more than a decade of inactivity, Harris Teeter, which allegedly plans on building a store on Lake Park Boulevard, has requested a year-long extension to its conditional-use permit (that was originally issued in 2015).
According to Assistant Planning Director Jeremy Hardison, Harris Teeter has asked for a 12-month extension to the permit which will expire in April of this year. Former state senator Michael Lee of Lee Law Firm is representing Jubilee Carolina, the group behind Harris Teeter which submitted the request last week to the town.
Meanwhile, neighboring Publix is well under construction and — according to Mayor of Carolina Beach Joe Benson — is aiming for an early July opening date.
Both Publix and Harris Teeter have been tied up in a legal battle since the town initially gave the developer behind Publix the green light in January of 2018.
Related: Carolina Beach approves Federal Point development over Harris Teeter’s objections
Despite Harris Teeter’s best efforts, after little more than one year Publix is well on its way to completion while the property where the proposed Harris Teeter remains empty — except for a sign.
While it was the group behind Harris Teeter that initially launched the litigation, Publix has fired back and has even alleged that Harris Teeter never planned on opening a store on the island, instead, they only wanted to prevent competition to protect another store located north across Snow’s Cut bridge.
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