Ask Us: What is the status of Faith Road shopping center?

Published 12:00 am Monday, August 5, 2019

SALISBURY — In October 2017, the Salisbury Planning Board designated property at 517 Faith Road as a conditional district.

That meant the owners, Jose Ceron and Faustina Escobar, could continue with their plans to build an 11,000-square-foot shopping center.

Before the new zoning, the land was zoned for general and urban residential use. The lot sits behind the Rowan County Department of Social Services offices and borders a residential neighborhood.

A reader asked what the status of that proposed shopping center is.

According to Teresa Barringer, the city’s zoning administrator, the city hasn’t been contacted by the developer since 2017. The next step in the process would be submitting construction and utility plans, but the city hasn’t yet received them.

“They may have decided not to pursue it,” Barringer said. “We don’t know.”

Escobar said he and Ceron are still planning to build a shopping center on the property. She said they have been waiting for plans about a turning lane on Faith Road but are hoping to start construction in October.

Barringer said the conditional district zoning typically would expire in two years unless the city extends it. Since it was approved in October 2017, the designation remains valid.