THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 17, 1995 TAG: 9512150188
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Bill Reed
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
The brouhaha over the pending location of a Brew Thru store on Pacific Avenue at 29th Street is a classic clash of public and private interests.
To refresh your memories, a Brew Thru is a drive-through convenience store that allows motorists to wheel inside to buy snacks, drinks of all sorts - including beer, if the ABC Board approves - and T-shirts, tooth paste, canned goods and knickknacks.
The concept is borrowed from an Outer Banks, N.C., entrepreneur named Dana Lowrentz, who has opened four such stores in places like Kitty Hawk, Nags Head and Corolla.
Three local businessmen thought it was a neat idea and decided to build one of their own on Pacific Avenue. They are George Hazzis, head of the South Hampton Roads Domino's Pizza franchise; Harry Tully, president of Uncle Harry's Cones & Cream outlets in Virginia Beach; and David Womick, a Virginia Beach food service broker.
Since the property is already zoned RT3, a designation that permits a wide range of commercial uses, all they had to do was get a site plan approved by the city and a lease agreement with the property owner before building it.
As can be seen from businesses up and down Pacific Avenue, a smorgasbord of sales and service outlets exist for the delectation of passers-by. There are hotels, restaurants, convenience stores, burger outlets, Putt-Putt golf courses, Bumper Boat concessions, surf shops and even a chiropractor's office. There are banks, churches, law offices, barber shops and art studios, game arcades and a pizza delivery joint.
The corner property sought for the Brew Thru is owned by Robert W. Vakos, an Oceanfront innkeeper, who also is a member of the city Planning Commission. Brew Thru's chief opponent is Henry Richardson, president of the Virginia Beach Hotel and Motel Association and owner of a hotel next door to the would-be store site.
On Tuesday, the City Council added its weight to the opposition by voting unanimously to seek ABC Board rejection of a liquor license for the Brew Thru. The move was spurred by resistance from the Resort Beach Civic League and Coalition and the Second Precinct Advisory Committee. The first is a group representing neighborhoods surrounding the store site. The second is a citizens panel that meets each month to air law and order issues affecting their neighborhoods.
Rationale for the strong opposition, says Maryann Nixon, civic league president, is:
The Beach Borough already has more than 100 off-premises beer outlets.
These establishments are magnets for punks and rowdies of every description.
Into this bubbling stew you add another disquieting ingredient: The city is concluding a study on how to upgrade Pacific Avenue. The aim is to make it as welcoming and pedestrian-friendly as Atlantic Avenue, a nine-year municipal undertaking.
Overseeing such Oceanfront improvement projects is the Resort Area Advisory Commission, which faces a no-win situation here. If members back the Brew Thru, they incur the wrath of resort residents and business operators. They also run athwart the future Pacific Avenue revitalization plans. If they oppose the project, they will be considered anti-private-ownership, anti-free enterprise, socialist, commie, welfare-coddling pigs.
Sooo, with that in mind, they bravely took no stand at all on the store issue.
Meanwhile, the three principals involved say they'll proceed with the store construction plans, then they'll go to the state ABC Board to battle for an off-premises beer and wine sales license. That's the same kind you see posted in any number of stores within a stone's throw of the proposed Brew Thru.
Let the good times roll. by CNB