Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 18, 1994 TAG: 9404190037
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By KEVIN KITTREDGE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MEADOWS OF DAN LENGTH: Long
You'd never know it, she says, because the Virginia Department of Transportation made her take down her 8-by-8 foot sign out on U.S. 58 last fall.
In its place is a much smaller sign that satisfies the highway people but Galli says nobody notices. As a result, she said, she has lost sales and laid off three people in a county that needs the jobs.
The first sign, unfortunately, was in violation of the law.
Galli took it down, but she did not give in.
``Women used to not be able to vote,'' Galli said. ``That was the law. Black people used to be property. That was the law. If our forefathers hadn`t challenged the law, we'd have a queen.''
The law in questIon is a state law based on the federal Highway BeautificatIon Act, said Boyd Cassell, environmental program manager for VDOT. Cassell said compliance with the act brings in some $44 million annually in federal highway funds for Virginia.
Non-compliance would put those funds in jeopardy, he said.
Galli's sign, though by all accounts a nice enough sign, did not comply. The law says that such signs must be located on land zoned ``commercial,`` or within 500 feet of an existing business, said Cassell and others.
Galli said Patrick County has no zoning, and there is no business that qualifies within 500 feet of her sign.
Galli's factory sits on Virginia 795 about half a mile from its intersection with U.S. 58, just outside Meadows of Dan.
Surrounded by tree and cows, it is visible but hardly obvious from the highway. Still less do its corrugated metal walls call out ``fudge factory'' to the passing motorist.
For years that was fine with Galli, who was building up a nationwide fudge wholesale business.
But last July she tried something new - opening a small shop in the factory with dozens of varieties of fudge and chocolate. Almond bark, raisin clusters, black walnut chocolate. Orange and lemon creme chocolate. Peanut butter chocolate. Chocolate pecan.
At the back of the store she even put in a window, so that people could look into the factory itself and see the big vats of fudge being made.
She put up the sign at the intersection to draw people in.
It said ``Nancy's homemade fudge and candy. Factory store. Come see where candy is made.`` There was a big arrow pointing to the factory, she said, and inside the arrow, the words ''Open daily.''
It worked.
``The factory store did very well,'' Galli said.
In October, however, VDOT workers noticed the sign and told Galli she had to take it down. Galli said she did not know it was in violation of the law.
Once she took the sign down, business in the store dried up. No one driving by on U.S. 58 seems to notice the little - and legal - sign she put up to replace it, Galli said. candy
Galli said she she no longer has anyone working full-time in her store.
VDOT officials say they are sympathetic to her plight.
``We're continuing to meet with Miss Galli,`` Cassell said. ``We're trying to respond to the fullest extent we can, and hopefully we can work it all out.''
The candy store was just the latest addition to a business that has grown steadily since it was founded here in 1987.
Galli came here with her husband, Patrick, from upstate New York in 1985.
``We just wanted to move somewhere quieter and cleaner,'' she explained, ``where people were nicer.`` She said they found all three in Patrick County .
The ex-jewelry retailers began their fudge business, using Nancy Galli's recipe, on the site of an ice-making plant. When the ice trucks went out to make their deliveries, Galli said, she would make fudge. When the trucks returned, she would stop.
Her business grew, and Galli needed more space. The ice company moved out some walk-in freezers to make room.
The fudge business kept growing, however, and soon Galli needed an addition to the building.
And warehouse space.
And an office upstairs.
Nowadays, Nancy's Homemade Fudge has 27 employees (the ice company is still there, too). Her factory ships fudge all over the country. She shipped a ton of it to Canada recently. Another ton or so was sitting in a truck in Salt Lake City last week, she said, stranded by a truckers' strike.
Thus, the three jobs Galli says were lost when the sign came down were a small part of the business. Two employees worked in the store, Galli said, while a third made candy to stock it. law
Still, three jobs is three jobs. Galli attributes the loss of the jobs directly to the removal of her sign. candy
County officials say they want to help. ``We're interested in helping business,'' said County Administrator David Hoback.
Hoback said one solution would be to call the 15,000-square-foot fudge factory a special Patrick County feature or tourist attractIon, and then put up a sign pointing the way. Galli said her fudge factory is the only candy factory in Virginia.
``That's one option,`` Hoback said. ``There are several others - which leads us to believe there is some compromise available.``
A meeting between Galli, Hoback, Cassell, VDOT Resident Engineer Joel Amos and others is planned for this week to attempt to work things out. ``What we've got to do is go over the options and get everybody involved in the decision-making process together,'' Amos said.,
Sign or no sign, the last few years have been fruitful ones for Galli - who weighs something less than 100 pounds, but admits to a life-long taste for sweets.
``Owning this business has cut way down on my candy bill,'' she said.
by CNB