THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 24, 1996 TAG: 9605240510
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 78 lines
After months of struggle, a fight in the General Assembly, a tempest before the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and weeks of sniping with city attorneys, the city's first drive-through convenience store will open this morning. Brew Thru, the Pacific Avenue store that will sell snack foods, soda and, yes, beer, to drive-in customers, will open at 7 a.m.
``We never wanted a squabble with the city in the first place,'' said George S. Hazzis, the president of Pinnacle Convenience, the company that owns the controversial store.
``We're glad that we're at the point where we always wanted to be: to open the first drive-through convenience store in Virginia Beach,'' said Hazzis, who also owns all 19 Hampton Roads franchises for Domino's Pizza.
The store drew the ire of just about every civic group in the resort area, was attacked by the police department as hostile to its efforts to thwart drinking and driving, and had its ABC license appealed by the city in Richmond.
Each step along the way, Hazzis and his attorney, John Russell, of Richmond, argued that the business was no more a threat to the community welfare than any other convenience store.
In granting it a license to sell alcoholic beverages, the ABC board insisted that customers buying beer or wine must step outside of their vehicle to complete the transaction. The company says it will go a step further and require all passengers in any vehicle buying alcoholic beverages to provide proof each is old enough to drink.
The store held an informal ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday night with the company's owners being the first to drive through. The store, located at 29th Street and Pacific Avenue, will be open daily from 7 a.m. to either midnight or 1 a.m., Hazzis said.
Even though the company has a license to sell beer and wine, the city has not decided if it will attempt further appeals before the Virginia Beach Circuit Court, among the last remaining legal options it has.
``Never in the history of the ABC board have they reversed a final decision that went to circuit court,'' Hazzis said. ``If they do so, it will be a waste of taxpayers' money.''
The presence of the store has led Virginia Beach officials to publicly wonder if they should seek revocation of beer sales at six gasoline stations near the Oceanfront to discourage drinking and driving.
``We are going to examine each of those licenses in this area,'' Assistant City Attorney L. Steven Emmert told the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board on May 2.
Contacted earlier this week, Emmert said his office was waiting for direction from the City Council.
The Virginia Beach Police Department, the resort area civic league, a Virginia senator and a delegate all lobbied against the license for several reasons.
The police worried the store would add to traffic congestion on Pacific Avenue, especially during the busy summer months, and send an inappropriate message to young people that links drinking and driving. Civic leaders agreed and added that the resort area has 145 ABC licenses within a one-mile radius of the Brew Thru and can ill afford another such license.
Earlier this year, Del. Glenn R. Croshaw sponsored a bill in the General Assembly that would have banned the business. It was tabled after the House of Delegates approved it by an 84-16 vote, and a Senate committee chose to study the matter for another year. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MIKE HEFFNER/The Virginian-Pilot
Brew Thru co-owner David Womick describes one of the store's
well-known features, its T-shirts, at the store's new location on
29th Street and Pacific Avenue at the Oceanfront. by CNB