THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 12, 1995 TAG: 9512120262
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
A proposed resort strip drive-through convenience store - bearing the Brew Thru trade name - faces tough sledding before the City Council today as neighborhood opposition builds against it.
The 2,000-square-foot building would be on the southwest corner of Pacific Avenue and 29th Street in a commercial zone abutting an established Beach Borough residential neighborhood.
The business would allow motorists to drive through to buy T-shirts, soft drinks, snacks, cigarettes, toothpaste, canned goods and - as the name suggests - beer.
Drive-through convenience stores have become established on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, but this would be the first in Virginia Beach.
In October, the Resort Beach Civic League and Coalition - a group representing neighborhoods from Norfolk Avenue to 32nd Street - voted against the Brew-Thru proposal.
Sentiment against it surfaced later in the Second Precinct Advisory Commission, a panel of Beach residents that meets monthly with ranking officers of the Second Police Precinct to discuss law and order issues affecting their neighborhoods.
The primary reason for resistance, said Maryann Nixon, civic league president, is that borough residents feel there are already too many off-premises beer outlets in the resort strip and that they are a magnet for unruly young crowds.
Despite the growing resistance, which prompted Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf to draft a resolution opposing the retail beer outlet, developers of the project decided to proceed with construction by next week.
Oberndorf's resolution will be introduced at today's council meeting, beginning at 2 p.m. It asks the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board to deny the store owners a license to sell beer and wine for off-premises consumption.
Said Oberndorf: ``I have no problem about potato chips and sodas and water, I just don't think it's appropriate to encourage the sale of alcoholic beverages in a resort that advertises itself as a family destination. We're trying very hard to see that appropriate behavior is demonstrated.''
An ABC license apparently is the only obstacle to the convenience store. The Pacific Avenue lot already is zoned for RT3 commercial use and the city Planning Department has approved a site plan for the store.
This means developers legally can build anything on the site, from a souvenir shop to a burger outlet.
The ABC Board in Richmond has yet to receive a license application from the owners, said Curtis Coleburn , an agency administrator.
``Once it arrives we'll do an investigation to determine if there are any objections,'' he said.
``If there are objections we'll look into matters that might be grounds for refusal. But, just because people don't want it doesn't mean that's grounds for refusal.''
What ABC officials look for, Coleburn explained, is the proposed store location, competing outlets in the vicinity and whether or not potential beer and alcohol sales will be near residential areas or schools.
Principals in the Brew Thru are George Hazzis, head of the South Hampton Roads Domino's Pizza franchise; Harry Tully, president of Uncle Harry's Cones & Ice outlets in Virginia Beach, and David Womick, a Virginia Beach food service broker.
The three have secured an agreement with Dana Lawrentz, originator and operator of four Brew-Thru stores on the Outer Banks, to use the company name and drive-through concept in Virginia and the United States, said Hazzis.
At a special meeting Saturday, the Resort Area Advisory Commission took no position on the proposed drive-through after listening to the Hazzis group and opponents.
A major study is under way to determine how to upgrade the Pacific Avenue corridor.
A consultant has sketched preliminary plans for widening and landscaping the street with the aim of creating a pedestrian-friendly environment.
Advisory commissioners and council members like Oberndorf fear that the Brew Thru will spur the proliferation of drive-in fast food and retail outlets along Pacific Avenue and undermine plans to upgrade the street. ILLUSTRATION: VP
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