THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 12, 1995 TAG: 9511110168
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Beach Borough residents are up in arms about the pending arrival of a Brew Thru drive-in convenience store at Pacific Avenue and 29th Street, and they want city officials to kill it, stall it or at least alter its purpose and appearance.
The franchise business, once open, would allow motorists to drive through to buy soft drinks, snacks, cigarettes, tooth paste, canned goods and - as the name suggests - beer.
In October the Resort Beach Civic League and Coalition - a group representing neighborhoods from Norfolk Avenue to 32nd Street - voted to oppose the location of the Brew Thru on the Oceanfront.
``Or any other place in this area,'' added president Maryanne Nixon last week.
The main reason for the opposition, said Nixon, is that borough residents feel there are already too many off-premises beer outlets in the resort strip.
Also voting against the opening of the Brew Thru was the Second Precinct Advisory Commission. This is a panel of citizens who meet monthly with ranking officers of the Second Police Precinct to discuss matters of law and order, traffic safety and security affecting neighborhoods adjoining the resort strip.
The problem, Nixon and members of the Resort Area Advisory Commission learned Thursday, is that the Brew Thru is virtually a ``done deal.'' The corner lot picked for the store already is zoned RT3, which permits a variety of retail businesses, including convenience stores.
A site plan for the Brew Thru has cleared the city's Planning Department and construction should begin some time in December, said Rob Hudome, who coordinates resort activities and improvements for the city's Department of Convention and Visitor Development. What the business owners do not have yet is a state license to sell beer or wine, said resort advisory Leon G. Coleman, special agent in charge for the local Alcoholic Beverage Control office and a member of the Resort Area Advisory Commission.
Nixon and resort innkeeper Barbara Yates hope to at least stall the arrival of the Brew Thru by asking the city and all its advisory bodies to register their disapproval of another off-premises beer outlet.
``When is enough enough for off-premises beer licenses?'' Yates asked resort advisory commission members Thursday. ``We already have hundreds of them.''
The drive-through store is not a new concept, said Roger Newill, chairman of the advisory commission. ``We had them in New Jersey when I was growing up.''
The big quandary facing the commission now, is that a major study is under way to determine how to beautify and upgrade the entire Pacific Avenue corridor.
``It really does go in the opposite direction of what we want to do there,'' Newill said. ``Frankly, I don't know what we can do.''
A consultant hired by the city already has sketched basic plans for widening and landscaping Pacific Avenue sidewalks and creating a pedestrian-friendly environment along the heavily traveled north-south corridor.
The continued proliferation of drive-in fast food and retail outlets and convenience stores along Pacific Avenue could undermine the city's future beautification plans for the area, warned commissioner Eric W. Schwartz.
To ward off potential problems arising from the drive-through project, the resort advisory commission has reserved time at its December meeting to talk it over with franchise owners Harry Tully, George Hazzis and David Womick. by CNB