Best Buy Refuses to Conform to Design Standards

"The town of Waynesville will concede to developers of Best Buy and allow the company to be exempt from parts of the town's land use standards.

After months of wrangling with an awkward site design, Cedarwood Development, Inc., the company in charge of developing Best Buy's 30,000-square-foot structure, told town officials that it simply could not bring the building up to the street it fronts and put parking in back, which is what the town's land-use standards demand.

The requirement's purpose is to create a pedestrian-friendly zone that would connect structures and encourage walking rather than driving.

The final design for the Best Buy building has the side of the structure facing Hyatt Creek Road and a parking lot in front of the building.

The concession on the town's part is relatively minor, and likely will leave many wondering what the big deal is. After all, the small town of Waynesville is lucky enough to get a Best Buy - so what if it can't do everything the town asks?

But the concession marks an about-face for Mayor Gavin Brown in particular, who last month berated Cedarwood developers at a town board meeting for not trying hard enough to conform to the town's land-use plan."