Sunday, October 11, 2009
Candidates contemplate a little big-box store
Christian Trejbal
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From the RoundTable blog
During last week's Blacksburg Town Council candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County, candidates answered seven questions on a range of topics. It was only a fraction of the questions submitted by citizens, though. More than two dozen went unasked.
The leftovers touched on many themes, but the most popular asked about a big-box store at First & Main. The legacy of a rumored Walmart Supercenter survives. Six of the questions wondered, in so many words, whether candidates would vote to allow a smaller big-box to open at First & Main -- something smaller than the 187,000square-foot beast originally contemplated.
As long as a proposed store is at least 50,000-square-feet large, it requires special council approval thanks to an ordinance council passed in response to the Supercenter rumor.
The little big-box question should not be a litmus test; many other challenges confront the town. Still, it is a fair question and one that remains on people's minds.
So I posed it to all nine candidates.
Each candidate acknowledged that the details of a given proposal would matter. They would judge an application on its merits when it came before them. From there, responses varied.
Three candidates -- Greg Fansler, Frank Lau and Tom Rogers -- support putting a large-format retailer at First & Main. Among their reasons, they cite the need for an anchor store to save the shopping center, increased tax revenue and desire for such a store in town.
Lau said an appropriate size would be about 100,000 square feet.
Inching away from outright support, Krisha Chachra also sees the need for an anchor store, but she would prefer a movie theater on the rugby field. A big-box would be better suited across Main Street at the old Kmart site, she said.
Michael Sutphin and Bryce Carter both said they are open to the possibility of a large retailer as long as it does not destroy the character of the neighborhood or impose unreasonable burdens on town services.
The remaining three candidates -- Susan Anderson, John Bush and Cecile Newcomb -- managed only degrees of non-answer.
It is a hypothetical situation, they said, and they will not speculate before they see an actual proposal. Anderson even ludicrously suggested that any candidate who answers the question would have to abstain from voting if the issue came before council.
The trio's prudence is useless to voters who want a sense of where candidates stand before they choose. Questions about what a candidate would do in office are necessarily hypothetical. No one knows with absolute certainty what the future brings. It bothers candidates only when they do not want to give an answer. Anderson, Bush and Newcomb responded to many other hypothetical situations during the forum and in interviews.
Your thoughts
Admitting they conceivably could vote for a big-box store might offend the Blacksburg United for Responsible Growth crowd. Admitting they would not vote for one under any circumstances could offend shoppers tired of driving to Christiansburg for staples.
Political courage is difficult sometimes, but voters deserve it.
***
A rumor made the rounds after the forum. Several concerned citizens contacted me to allege someone fed answers to one or two candidates during the forum via text message or e-mail.
I checked with organizers, candidates and other people involved. Only one message appears to have been sent to a candidate, and that near the start of the forum.
According to the recipient, it said, "if you get this sit up more haha."
"Thanks," the candidate replied.
Another candidate had his device on the table but was not messaging.
That is hardly the stuff of puppet masters, as the rumormongers suggest. It was at most inappropriate.
In response, the League will require participants and spectators at all future forums to turn off their gadgets and put them away.
There is nothing more to it. Maybe the race can get back to the real issues.
