THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 5, 1996 TAG: 9608310176
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 42 lines
Strolling down Colley Avenue to get an ice cream cone may again become a pastime in Ghent now that the City Council has approved a Dairy Queen for the corner now occupied by the old Scalco gas station.
The busy shopping street now lacks a full-service ice-cream parlor. Mitch Sandlin, the owner of the franchise, said he plans to begin construction this fall. He expects to open in February.
The new Dairy Queen will resemble an old '50s restaurant, Sandlin said, and will blend in with the rest of the shops along Colley Avenue. The store's sign will be small and inconspicuous.
``You won't know it hadn't been there for the last 40 years,'' Sandlin said.
In addition to the Dairy Queen, the building also will contain space for another restaurant, probably a Zero's submarine shop, Sandlin said. The two will share a common eating area.
Alongside the more upscale eateries that have come to line Colley Avenue, the new pair of restaurants will offer a more casual and low-cost option. The two new restaurants will face Colley Avenue. The building will have an entrance for cars only on Spotswood Avenue.
The Scalco gas station occupied the spot for decades before closing last year. The property was once thought to be unfit for development because the storage tanks had leaked gasoline underground, causing environmental damage that made new development difficult.
But Sandlin said the property has been cleaned up by the owner, Sentry Petroleum Co. Pending a final environmental review, construction should start soon, he said.
The new Dairy Queen wasn't the only change City Council made that will affect Ghent. Because of new building regulations the City Council approved, it will get more difficult to make changes to homes in Ghent.
With the new regulations, any changes to the exterior of a home visible from the public streets must go before the Design Review Board. Previously, only construction that required a building permit had to be reviewed formally. City officials say this left out a multitude of smaller projects that still substantially changed the appearance of a house in the historic neighborhood. by CNB