Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 4, 1990 TAG: 9007040286
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG New River Valley Bureau
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
"I've come before you to discuss the status of the shopping center - again," said J.B. Warner, president of Concerned Citizens for Planned Progress, a group that has been fighting a shopping center on Memorial Drive for two years.
The property was zoned commercially to accommodate the center proposed by developer Steve Vermillion in June 1989. Council previously had rejected several proposals from different developers - including one from Vermillion himself.
Since that time, a new developer has taken over the property, and that has brought new concerns for Warner and about 20 citizens who turned out for Tuesday's meeting.
"We want a guarantee that he's going to follow along with the plans that had been submitted," Warner said. "How much has council become involved with the developer to make sure he delivers what Vermillion has promised?"
Vermillion had offered proffers when he made his proposal for the center. Some were aesthetic, such as a fence that would help shield the residents from the shopping center. Others were safety-oriented and included a traffic light and sidewalk.
Warner said he also is confused by different corporations that appear to be controlling the 20 acres slated to house a strip mall, a Wal-Mart and a Food Lion. He also is concerned that the developer, Wyatt Development Co. Inc of Aiken, S.C., is leasing 1.7 acres with an option to buy instead of purchasing the property outright.
Vermillion had promised to buy the land, he said. And that 1.7 acres allowed council to view Vermillion's proposal for the center differently from a previous proposal. An ordinance prevents the town from considering two substantially similar proposals within the same year.
The citizens' group took the town to court twice last year hoping to prove the proposals were the same, but a judge denied the injunction.
"We don't want another half-baked shopping center in Pulaski," Warner said. "Malls fall on hard times."
Warner said if the center was going to be built, his group wanted it built right.
So does council, said Mayor Gary Hancock.
"I don't think you and your group are the only people who are concerned," Hancock said, after Warner gave council members a "pop quiz" on the shopping center's status. "Council is concerned, too, and we're staying on top of it."
Don Crispin, a newly elected council member who gave up his seat as head of the concerned citizens' group last month, wanted more.
Crispin made his first official motion as a council member, asking that the town refuse to grant building permits to the developer until questions about the center and its progress could be answered.
But Town Attorney Frank Terwilliger said it wasn't in council's authority to deny such a permit, especially when the developer hadn't shown any indication of breaking any plans or proffers.
In a substitute motion, council agreed to have the attorney and administrative staff look for answers to the citizens' questions and report back within two weeks.
"We want to do everything we can to make sure this is built as it was intended," Hancock said.
And so, the item will appear on the agenda again.
"I don't know any issue that has been discussed more," said Councilman Andy Graham, who had voted against the rezoning. "It's been beat around so much. This council needs to get on to some other issues."
by CNB