Sunday, October 05, 2008
The wrath of Blacksburg
Christian Trejbal
Recent columns
- Making sense of local elections
- Voters have only themselves to blame
- Money flows freely to local candidates
- Candidates contemplate a little big-box store
From the RoundTable blog
Blacksburg residents now know how long town vengeance lasts -- about three months.
In June, the town council inflicted its wrath from on high -- well, at least from as high as its elevated seats in council chambers -- on Sonic Drive-In and the First & Main project.
Representatives of Sonic were there seeking permission to build a new restaurant on the periphery of the controversial development at the south end of town.
Please, they asked, let us serve burgers and shakes to those who are too lazy to get out of their cars. The town's own planning commission recommended approval of our application with a few conditions that we are more than happy to meet.
Four council members had bigger worries than filling bellies. They still felt the sting of First & Main. They and their supporters had fallen under a developer's spell. They believed a beautiful, upscale, mixed-use project would go on the underutilized land.
The town never got it in writing, and mixed-use became a big-box store, most likely a Wal-Mart Supercenter.
The state Supreme Court will decide if the town may yet block that part of the project, which runs decidedly against the grain of Southwest Virginia's most progressive enclave. In the meantime, the council exacted its retribution by way of Sonic.
No, the four told Sonic, you may not open your fast food chain there. Your speakers will be too loud. Your signs, too glaring. Your eatery, inaccessible to pedestrians and bicyclists. And the cars! The cars will idle and pollute our clean mountain air. Take your drive-in elsewhere.
It must have felt good to slap down the developer whom so many felt had wronged the community.
After the celebration, though, the hangover struck. Sonic and their First & Main pals filed a lawsuit, alleging -- pointing out -- that the town had treated them unfairly as petty partisan payback. With $150,000 already spent on the Wal-Mart lawsuit, the last thing the town needed was another costly court fight.
Backroom dealing ensued. The public does not know what took place in the private conversations between the town and Sonic, but last month the council appeared ready to let go of its anger. If the company could do just a few more things, maybe it could build after all.
Your thoughts
- Did Sonic get a fair shake in Blacksburg? Post to the RoundTable.
The town asked the judge to order it to accept a fresh application.
The new application will contain changes to appease council members and, more important, give them political cover. There will probably be fewer speakers, maybe no piped music outside and some sidewalks. Maybe Sonic will even build some bike-friendly slots. It might agree to close earlier than other fast-food places. No need for drunks leaving the bars to stop there.
And the council will approve it. The anger has dissipated. For three months, it jerked around a proposal to build a fast-food place in a developed area along Main Street. When the four who opposed it run for re-election, they will be able to tell voters they played hardball and won.
Or maybe the council is more devious and vengeful than it appears.
The new application must still go through the planning commission, public hearings and another council vote. If town activists get fired up, the council could yell, "Psyche! We're not going to let you build. Wait a full year to reapply."
That would be some real wrath.
Trejbal is an editorial writer for The Roanoke Times based in the New River Valley bureau in Christiansburg.
