Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 4, 1993 TAG: 9312040088
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: SETH WILLIAMSON Correspondent
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Long
About 100 citizens showed up at Thursday night's town council meeting, hoping to voice their opinions even though the topic was not on the council agenda. The unusually large turnout forced council members to move the meeting from the town offices to larger quarters in the Floyd County Courthouse.
At least three petitions have been circulating in the county, two against the proposed restaurant and one in favor.
Though there is no shortage of exceptions, the issue seems to be dividing natives and transplants to this county, blue-collar workers and white-collar professionals.
"I think you'll find that most of the people who are born here are for it, and it's the people who have come here who are against it," said Don Peters, a Floyd native who drives to work in Roanoke every day.
Many professionals and white-collar workers, a large percentage of which have moved to the county from elsewhere, are just as strongly opposed. Several vocal opponents of the restaurant report receiving anonymous hate mail.
Native Floyd Countian Wendy Atkins summed up the situation after the public segment of the council meeting ended: "This lady behind me in there said, `I came here to Floyd not too long ago because I wanted to live in a nice peaceful place.' So I said, `Well, I've lived here all my life and I'm ready for a change.'
"This whole street ain't nothing but hippies and they're the ones who are fighting to keep [Hardee's] out,'" Atkins said, referring to Locust Street, where such businesses as the Harvest Moon Food Store and New Mountain Mercantile were started by people who moved to Floyd County.
John Schieman is a former public housing official who came to Floyd County from Connecticut five years ago. "I say let's make Floyd County different and have no fast food at all. Let's be unique.
"Before I came here, I saw a brochure for Floyd that said they had no railroad, no airport, no big highways and no McDonald's, and that's what sold me," Schieman said.
The proposed restaurant would be owned by Boddie-Noell Enterprises of Rocky Mount, N.C., and would be built in the space now occupied by the former Floyd Motors building and lot.
The space is zoned for business use by the town, and Boddie-Noell officials already have conducted a balloon test on the property to determine how visible a sign for the restaurant would be.
Floyd artist Jeanie O'Neill urged council members either to appoint an architectural review board or adopt an architectural ordinance. O'Neill, a Floyd native, says she is not against Hardee's coming to Floyd, but says the restaurant should plan to blend in with Floyd's ambience if it does locate in the town, citing a Hardee's in Madison, Ga., which did just that.
"People have taken a great deal of pride in their homes and there's a strong sense of community here," she said. "If we start fooling with our assets without any kind of direction or planning, we destroy what sets us apart from anywhere else," said O'Neil, who is determined to avoid an acrimonious confrontation on the issue.
The artist said she's worried about possible litter, the problem of tractor-trailers parking on Main Street, and the stress on the town's water supply and the county's waste disposal problem.
A number of workers from the Fabric Cutters Inc., a textile mill, attended the meeting and afterwards said a Hardee's is needed so that working people can have a lunch spot.
"We only get 30 minutes for lunch, and right now there just isn't enough time to get lunch at the places we have," said native Floyd countian Jill Hylton.
Kenneth Huff said he resents the "newcomers, the hippie-like people" who are trying to stop the restaurant. "We should as taxpayers have the right to say," he said.
Huff's wife Kathy, who also works at Fabric Cutters, said the issue is jobs. "We need jobs for our young people so they can work here without having to drive all over the place. My son's a college student and he tried all over to find work in Floyd County and he just couldn't. It's time that Floyd County gets into the future."
Margie Michaud, co-owner of the Harvest Moon Food Store, first moved to the county 16 years ago. Her store is frequented by much of Floyd County's counter-culture community.
"I would like not to have a Hardee's in the town or in the immediate area," said Michaud. She says she's afraid of trash from the restaurant and that it might drive out other businesses. And that, if the restaurant fails, the town would be stuck with its "carcass."
"It's to protect the charm of the town," she said. "There are a lot of tourists who have moved here for just that reason, because we don't have what other towns have. We came here to raise our kids in a natural setting. Michaud estimated that 80 to 90 percent of her clientele is against the proposed Hardee's.
Thursday night's town council meeting quickly adjourned to executive session to consider economic development issues.
Floyd mayor Skip Bishop afterwards said he was not at liberty to say whether the Hardee's matter was discussed in private, but that the issue will undoubtedly be on the agenda at the next meeting.
Bishop said the meeting will again be moved to the courthouse if another large crowd attends.
by CNB