Site was to be Big Papa’s Seafood and Produce
By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com
Members of the Richmond County Planning and Zoning Board of Adjustment will conduct a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12 to consider a conditional use permit application from a Hamlet man who wants to open a flea market and produce stand.
Ernest Lee Primus said it’s time for a career change. He hopes to open the cinderblock warehouse building along State Route 177 north of Hamlet, which was proposed to be Big Papa’s Seafood and Produce, as soon as all the necessary permits are issued. Primus plans to be open six days a week.
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Primus told county officials that the flea market could rent booths to third-party vendors both inside and outside of the building and offer fresh produce in season. Primus said he also plans to sell candy, cookies, sodas and coffee.
In September 2014, Davidson County native William Lindsey planned to buy the property from owner William J. Barnhardt. That fell through, and Primus hopes to capitalize on the opportunity. The property is located just north of the intersection of state Route 177 and EV Hogan Drive. It is zoned Rural Residential and falls within the Highway Commercial Overlay District.
Primus has signed a five-year lease, through March 31, 2020, with Barnhardt.
Primus told The Pee Dee Post late Wednesday afternoon he has not yet visited the Richmond County Health Department to determine what, if any, permits he’ll need. He planned to do that on Thursday, he said.
The hearing is scheduled to take place on the second floor of the Richmond County Administrative Office building, located at 125 S. Hancock St. in downtown Rockingham. The meeting is open to the public.
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