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North Belmont reunion
The North Belmont reunion is Oct. 11. The event will be held at North Belmont Elementary School, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. There will be hot dogs, chips and drinks available.
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Chili’s draw nearer
By THOMAS LARK
- Thu, Sep 4, 2008
BELMONT—The new Chili’s restaurant coming to the Montcross shopping complex is drawing nearer.
According to Belmont Senior Planner Adrian Miller and Planning Director Elson Baldwin, the 5,898-square-foot restaurant should be here by spring, 2009.
“We had our technical review committee meeting with representatives of Chili’s this morning,” Miller said, speaking Aug. 27, “and we went over the construction drawings. They have to extend a water line down Caldwell Farm Road, the interior road at Montcross. And then once it’s installed, construction can begin. It could be two months before construction starts.”
And that construction process must first be permitted through the North Carolina Department of the Environment and Natural Resources’ public water supply agents. It generally takes six months to construct such a site and its attendant building, Miller said.
“So, hopefully, the spring is what we’re looking at,” he added.
Chili’s will be located between the new BB&T and the existing Handi-Lube on Wilkinson Boulevard. Miller said the restaurant will front the boulevard, but it won’t be accessible from there.
“It will feature pedestrian and bicycle access but not vehicular,” he explained. “There will be a 12-foot sidewalk, which is required for all new development on Wilkinson Boulevard. So customers driving to the restaurant will come in via the Montcross entrance route of Caldwell Farm Road.
“This will be the first new development built since changing our parking requirements,” Miller continued, “so it will mean a lot more shade trees in the parking lot than people are used to seeing, and it will feature pervious pavement that water can flow through. This is better for the environment, as it prevents stormwater run-off. The white concrete you see at Wal-Mart, for example, is pervious concrete. This technique has only been developed in recent years, and it works very well.”
Baldwin said he was eager to see Chili’s becoming another piece of the vibrant economic tapestry that is Belmont. Baldwin also thanked Bill Monroe of Charlotte-based WGM Design, the firm designing Montcross, and neighboring Belmont Abbey College.
“I’m certainly looking forward to a new tenant at Montcross and getting the construction started,” he said. “And I know that Mr. Monroe and the Abbey are working to get some good tenants in the space out there. Even with the economic slowdown, this will get us some good, long-term leases with nationally known businesses out there.”
And Thursday, Chili’s spokesman John McGlone said the restaurant’s reps are very happy to be coming to Belmont. McGlone said the new Chili’s would join its sister restaurant, already in Gastonia.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to be coming,” he said. “We’re looking forward to being good neighbors.”
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