Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 18, 1990 TAG: 9004180433
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Council members passed a rezoning request in June for the shopping center, which is to be located on Memorial Drive. They had heard rezoning requests from other developers on and off over the past three years, but had denied the proposals.
In June, council voted 5 to 3 to grant the request for Steve Vermillion, a developer from Charlotte, N.C.
But construction never began.
In a report to council and neighborhood residents Tuesday night, Town Manager Don Holycross said the site recently has been taken over by a new developer, Wyatt Development Co. Inc. of Aiken, S.C.
Jim Price, a spokesman for the company, said his shopping center will be similar to the one proposed by Vermillion.
Vermillion's center was projected to generate $20 million in revenue and provide about 250 full-time jobs.
Price did not have estimates on revenues or jobs available Tuesday night.
He said Wal-Mart and Food Lion will serve as anchor stores for the strip center, and that he hopes to begin "moving dirt" in the next month.
Wyatt Development Co. has built 42 shopping centers in the Southeast, Price said, and hopes to develop more property in Virginia.
"We're excited to be here in Pulaski and we hope Pulaski is excited, too," he said.
But the group that turned out at Tuesday's meeting is not excited about the center.
"This is Pulaski's longest running poker game," said J.B. Warner, who lives on Oakhurst Avenue. "It seems the game is continuing with new players."
Warner and others from the neighborhood claim the shopping center will destroy their residential area.
The neighbors sued the town a year ago, saying that council considered zoning requests that were too similar in nature within several months of each other. An ordinance requires a that a town wait a year before hearing "substantially similar requests."
The injunction was denied when a judge ruled that the proposals being considered for the centers on Memorial Drive had several differences.
According to the ordinance that provided for the conditional rezoning, the developer has until June 27 to get a building permit for the center or the property could revert to residential.
Town Attorney Frank Terwilliger said the developer could request an extension of 90 days, but so far, a request has not been filed.
If the developer does not proceed by June 27, however, he could request another rezoning hearing and the process could start all over again, Terwilliger said.
"And the poker game goes on," Warner added.
by CNB