THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 13, 1996 TAG: 9606130367
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 52 lines
A move to check the spread of drive-through businesses citywide is on hold for 60 days so opponents and backers alike can more thoroughly review a list of proposed restrictions.
At issue is a proposed ordinance change produced by the Planning Commission that would ban drive-throughs in the heart of the resort strip; allow limited drive-through development in other areas, with City Council approval; and impose a series of related parking, landscaping and design restrictions that apply citywide.
It was the scope of the changes that triggered the most vigorous protests at a Planning Commission hearing on the issue Wednesday.
Typical of the arguments against the proposed code changes were the ones offered by lawyer John Russell, who represents investors in a Brew Thru convenience store that opened earlier this month at the Oceanfront.
``I haven't heard yet what you're trying to correct,'' Russell told commission members. ``I've heard there were going to be opportunities for workshops for meaningful input, but there haven't been any workshops to date. We need more time to study it.''
Russell and other business-oriented opponents charged that the commission had rushed through suggested regulations that would hamper drive-through operations throughout the city. Banks, pharmacies, photo developers and dry cleaners, as well as fast-food and convenience stores, would be unduly penalized, he argued.
Favoring immediate drive-through limits was Maryanne Nixon, president of the Resort Beach Civic League and Coalition, a civic group representing most of an 80-block residential area bordering the resort strip.
Nixon's group had unsuccessfully opposed the location of the Brew Thru on Pacific Avenue, several blocks from her 24th Street home, earlier this spring. Their chief objection was that the Brew Thru would be licensed to sell beer and wine and thereby threaten the tranquillity of adjoining neighborhoods.
``We have an opportunity today to learn that the minimum is not the best,'' she said, urging commissioners to adopt the recommendations.
Nixon cited a consultant's recommendation to ban all drive-through businesses east of Birdneck Road as a major part of rejuvenating Pacific Avenue and transforming it into a ``pedestrian-friendly'' Oceanfront corridor.
The suggested code changes stem from a January City Council directive to the Planning Commission to find ways to control the spread of drive-through operations. The move was prompted by Councilman Linwood O. Branch III, who opposed the Brew Thru and the take-out beer and wine license that went with it.
Branch later said his concern was limited mainly to the resort district, where drive-throughs - used by fast-food, bank and cleaning outlets - already were prevalent.
KEYWORDS: DRIVE THROUGH BUSINESS by CNB