Jul 1

Jul 1 Kristy Kelly: Kinston wins a national award — But look closer at what we’re letting slide

Weeds and waste: National retailers let Kinston down the same week it wins All-America City Award

Kinston has earned its third All-America City Award, a national recognition reserved for communities that excel in civic engagement, cross-sector collaboration, and local problem-solving. It’s a proud moment. We deserve to celebrate. But as banners are raised and congratulations echo through City Hall, we need to ask a harder question:

Photo of City of Kinston winning All American City in Denver, 2025. Photo: Facebook

Why are we letting multi-million dollar corporations degrade the very image we’re being honored for?

On the same streets where community leaders pitch revitalization and inclusive development, where local families fight to beautify their neighborhoods and small businesses keep their storefronts immaculate, some of the most visible commercial properties are being neglected — and not by locals, but by national chains with deep pockets and no excuse.

Let’s be clear: this is not a case of mom-and-pop operations struggling to make ends meet. These are corporate giants with seven-figure property values and professional management companies, who appear to have all but abandoned the most basic standards of upkeep in Lenoir County.

Take the Dollar Tree at 201 W Vernon Avenue — a $1.5 million property owned by a national chain, sitting on land held by a California-based LLC. The landscaping is overgrown and the grounds are in disrepair. A short drive away, the Dollar General at 2008 W Vernon Avenue, worth $1.2 million and owned by a Houston-based investment group, offers the same visual: neglected shrubbery, overflowing trash, and the sense that no one from corporate has bothered to look out the window, let alone walk the lot.

Dollar General at 2008 W Vernon Avenue. Photo: Kristy Kelly/Neuse News on 7/1/2025

The Family Dollar stores on E New Bern Road and Plaza Boulevard? They’re worse. Both are overgrown, strewn with trash, and an eyesore to any resident or visitor trying to believe in Kinston’s progress. These aren’t abandoned buildings.

Family Dollar at 701 Plaza Blvd. Photo: Kristy Kelly/Neuse News on 7/1/2025

These are active, high-traffic retail locations owned by publicly traded companies, built on land managed by out-of-town trusts and investment firms. They profit from our residents while contributing nothing to the physical dignity of the communities they occupy.

Dollar Tree at 201 W Vernon Ave. Photo: Kristy Kelly/Neuse News on 7/1/2025

Meanwhile, other locations operated by the same chains — like the Dollar General stores on Hwy 258 N and E King Street — demonstrate that decent maintenance is possible when someone actually cares. But too often, what we get in Kinston is neglect. And it shows.

So why does this matter?

Because appearances matter — especially when your city is being recognized for transformation and community pride. Because residents shouldn’t have to walk past knee-high weeds, broken curbs, and trash blowing across parking lots just to buy basic necessities. And because small businesses, homeowners, and local governments are held to a higher standard — through code enforcement, public scrutiny, and the ever-present threat of fines — than these out-of-state landowners who do the bare minimum to extract local revenue.

This is about equity. This is about respect.

If a resident on Mitchell Street let their yard look like this, they’d get a visit from the city. If a downtown business owner let their storefront go this way, they'd be called out in council meetings. But national retailers? They get a pass — year after year.

That needs to change.

Kinston cannot allow our economic revitalization to be papered over with awards while the most visible properties in our commercial corridors rot under absentee ownership. If we are serious about beautification, community health, and pride in place, we must demand better.

Dollar General at 2008 W Vernon Ave. Photo: Kristy Kelly/Neuse News on 7/1/2025.

It’s time for the City of Kinston — and Lenoir County — to enforce commercial maintenance standards with the same consistency and urgency applied to residents. It’s time for these corporate landlords to be fined, cited, and held publicly accountable for the condition of their properties. We don’t owe them leniency. They owe us respect.

We’ve won the award. Now let’s make them earn the privilege of doing business in a city that just got national recognition. Because community pride isn’t just about banners and trophies. It’s about standards. It’s about who gets held accountable.

And right now, too many of these companies are treating Kinston like we don’t matter.

We do.

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