THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 15, 1996 TAG: 9608150405
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL AND MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 41 lines
Heeding the objections of residents, the city's Planning Commission gave a preliminary thumbs-down to Miller Oil Company for a combination gas station, car wash and fast food restaurant in Western Branch.
The Planning Commission voted 7-2 to recommend that City Council deny Miller Oil's plan. Commissioners Debbie Ritter and Rodney L. Foster voted in favor of the gas station. City Council is due to consider the proposal in September.
The gas station was to have been located on a two-acre lot on Taylor Road, across from Chesapeake Square Mall. The site is at the entrance to a residential neighborhood. Neighbors objected to the proposal because they said it would become a nuisance.
Residents were concerned about traffic, trash, noise and possible environmental hazards.
A.C. Miller, president of Miller Oil, offered several concessions to try to quell neighbors' objections, such as building a privacy fence to shield the neighborhood and closing the restaurant and car wash at night, while leaving the gas station and convenience store open 24 hours. But residents were not appeased.
In other business, the Planning Commission approved a major ordinance limiting the location and size of future communication towers as the city prepares for an onslaught of applications. The vote was 7-1.
Chairman Robert L. Briggs was the lone opponent, saying the ordinance would prohibit non-cellular communication towers and thus shut out certain companies from doing business in Chesapeake.
``We want to leave a light on for business,'' Briggs said. ``But the last thing we want to do is turn the light off and shut the door.''
In response to that concern, a motion was made to examine the ordinance's impact on non-celluar communication providers.
The ordinance limits the size of free-standing communication towers to 190 feet. Towers can be taller as long as they are part of an existing building located in an industrially or rurally zoned district. The ordinance goes to the City Council at its meeting next Tuesday. by CNB