Outrage over Flea Market leads Commissioners’ to enact six month moratorium

WADESBORO — For the second time, citizens came before Anson commissioners to air their grievances regarding the news of a flea market coming to the area on Faulkner Rd. near Hopewell Methodist Church in the Burnsville community.

Crystal McKenzie, a local nurse practitioner whose family have been members of the Burnsville community for many years, brought too attention several concerns, primarily crime, traffic patterns and safety, regarding the flea market.

“Are we communicating with district DOT engineers, and if so what feedback have we received for the ability of Hopewell Church and Faulkner roads to accommodate the increased traffic we expect this to bring?” questioned McKenzie.

McKenzie also wondered how a ten-acre plot of land with three poultry barn sized buildings on site, would be able to accommodate the necessary parking spaces needed for such a business venture. Additional traffic concerns shared by McKenzie were for people walking up and down the road, cars being consistently parked along the shoulder of state roads, and the ability of emergency vehicles to travel in and out of the area should an emergency situation occur.

McKenzie stated that their local volunteer fire department has struggled with membership over the last several years and has been unable to do any community fundraising.

“If we are not able to accommodate a fundraiser, do we have the people to address an emergency in what may be the largest mass gathering Anson County has had to contend with?” McKenzie asked.

She noted that in rural communities such as Peachland and Burnsville, citizens understand they face a longer response time from law enforcement than those that live in town, leading her to ponder what that means for the community should there be an increase in crime.

McKenzie stated that she was informed that the flea market is classified as an “event” as opposed to a “business”, which she felt was by design in order to negate issues a business would be required to address, such as Porta Potty availability.

In closing, McKenzie further stated, “This is registered as a business, it is an LLC, it is doing business in the same place, in the same time, consistently every week. It is taking a lot of resources from different county departments….I do not see any revenue coming from this into Anson County.”

Linda Vann, whose property backs up to the site of the proposed flea market, has concerns related to the impact the “event” will have on the quality of life for those living in the area. Vann shared that she felt disheartened that commissioners are unable to prevent the event from coming to the county.

“I just found out about this flea market this morning when I read the article about it and I am really disturbed about that,” Vann said. “In our Anson County community, we can’t seem to get information out to the community about what is going on around here.” Her statement is a pervasive issue in the county frequently mentioned by other citizens during commissioner meetings.

“That property backs up to our property; you can hear the building going on now. What are we going to hear every weekend when we are sitting on our deck and want to enjoy our time? Right now, it is peaceful, you don’t hear anything,” said Vann.

In addition to traffic concerns related to sharp turns and church letting out near the event on Sundays, Vann shared her anxiety that the flea market has the potential to drive down home value.

“We pay taxes and our homes values are going to go down,” said Vann. “Nobody is going to want to bring their children out there and buy a three bedroom, two-bath house when you have a flea market running every weekend in your back yard. It is not fair to us it is not fair to the people in the community about their property value, it is just wrong to have this place open up there. They are supposed to be selling animals there, running a flea market and farmer’s market there, letting people camp there… what are we going to be dealing with every weekend? Which one of y’all wants to come buy our house for us today, a three bedrooms and two-bath house, at a good price? Would you want a flea market in your backyard? We do not.”

“I would appreciate if there is something that we can have done about this before something bad happens, and that is what is going to happen. It is what happened to Sweet Union [Flea Market in the Monroe area of Union County], you saw what it looked like in the end and we do not want that in our community or in our backyard,” Vann said.

Founded in 1984, the Sweet Union Flea Market hosted 300 vendors at its zenith. Sweet Union’s final day of operation was December 31, 2023. Different owners than the Sweet Union Flea Market will operate the proposed flea market coming to Faulkner Rd., though vendors from that flea market may be enticed to come to the area.

Again coming before the board to share his concerns, Art Taylor said, “I wanted to bring up waste management there as far as that place will generate a lot of traffic. We have a dump facility in Burnsville and is that going to be filled up also,” he stated.

“Let’s get a definition of an event and a business,” Taylor said. “If this thing is going to be running all the time, we need the schedule, we need to know what is going on… its needs a start and end time if it is an event.”

“There are incidences were characterizing this as an event may stipulate different regulations than a business,” interjected Chairman Jamie Caudle. “All of this is being looked at by our Planning Director, our Building Inspector, Fire Marshal, and Environmental Health. We have those in place for a reason like this, to ensure that this is up to par if they are going to operate a business.”

Tina Tomasicchio, another Anson County resident with anxiety over a potential spike in area crime, shared, “I feel like some of the issues like law enforcement and the Fire Department are major concerns. If you live in the area you do have to worry about crime, with people’s homes getting robbed as it is and this just brings more of that into the community — Not only that but you have animals, and I don’t know what the laws are written here, but I know there are a lot of animals that go unvaccinated. If you are having unvaccinated animal waste product from animals and from people that is a lot of waste and contamination in creeks, in your environment, and what you inhale.”

Tomasicchio asked why there is no zoning in the county.Commissioner Caudle has previously stated that zoning meetings held in the past had low attendance and received pushback from citizens.

“But how come no one in this county knows about this flea market?” Tomasicchio asked. “There was just a Facebook page and three weeks later, there is an article. It puts property owners, homeowners, and taxpayers in a bad situation. There are a lot of people with a lot of concerns that were not able to attend the meeting. There should be a way for people to voice their concerns, with Fire and Safety that is number one.”

Though the proposed flea market is not going in his district, Commissioner Lawrence Gatewood stated, “We have an issue here. I think as the board of commissioners we are in charge of Anson County and I would like to make a motion that we take the necessary steps to implement a moratorium until we [Commissioners] have a chance to study the impact of this flea market on the citizens, Burnsville in particular, Peachland, and Anson County more broadly,” he suggested.

Commissioner Jarvis Woodburn seconded Gatewood’s motion, explaining, “I will second the motion on the grounds that, to add to what Commissioner Gatewood has said, we see what kind of information we can get from Union County on why they are leaving Union County. I don’t know if we have had that told to us before or if we have any background on that. I think that would be some information that would help us in this situation as well.”

Woodburn added, “I think back over the years since that flea market has been on 74 it was really nice to start with and here in recent years it has really deteriorated.”

Clarifying the law in respect to a moratorium, County Attorney Scott Forbes stated, “The length of the duration ought to be less than or more than sixty days. If we do it for sixty−one days we can make sure that we get the notices out, though there is no time limit. It has to be noticed by one statute if it is over sixty days; it has to be published in a paper if it is under sixty days.”

“Given that, I would say a six month moratorium, that is my recommendation,” declared Gatewood, who amended his motion to that affect, still seconded by Commissioner Woodburn. Following a vote, the motion passed unanimously.

Weighing in on behalf of law enforcement, Sheriff Scott Howell issued a statement following the meeting. Howell shared that he has concerns related to theft, fraud, and confrontations between citizens that might locate their stolen items for sale at the the flea market. Though he is not certain that the flea market will generate extra crime in the area such as break-in’s and larcenies, Howell does envision theft and larceny occurring from the property of the flea market and that the potential is present for stolen items to be sold or traded at the flea market.

“The selling of counterfeit goods which includes clothing, footwear, purses, accessories, movie DVDs and music CDs is one of the biggest crimes,” Howell said. “This type of crime takes jobs from Americans. It also makes buyers think they are purchasing a real name brand item when it is a fake.”

“If crimes are happening, and I’m sure they will, the Sheriff’s Office does not currently have the resources to handle the flea market and our normal calls throughout the county,” Howell stated. “I want the citizens of Anson County, Anson County Commissioners and the people who will be opening the flea market to know, I strongly oppose it.”