THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 22, 1994 TAG: 9412210141
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: John Pruitt
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
If a city's prosperity is proportionate to the number of gasoline stations within its boundaries, Suffolk apparently has hit the big time. In every section of the sprawling city, preparations are under way to help us fill-er-up.
And in the process, some very appealing buildings are being cheapened - just another indication of Suffolk's lack of aesthetic appreciation and zoning ordinances so broad that a 24-hour gas station can as easily be erected across the street from a historic courthouse as on a sparsely populated trucking route.
In fact, it probably is easier to put the station on a properly zoned site at the entrance to downtown than on the trucking route because of safety considerations.
When the earth movers arrived on the lot next to the striking quarters of Commerce Bank on Main Street, I looked for a sign identifying the new tenant. That bank is one showplace, I thought; maybe it's a restaurant that will further diversify restaurant choices on Main Street or an office building that will be as appealing as the bank.
Forget that. Riding by and admiring the bank's classy Christmas finery - white lights adorning every tree in the expansive front lawn - I later spotted the sign. And my heart fell.
A convenience center - that's what operators call those stations that stock everything usually found at the 7-Eleven, and more - will be next to a building that easily is among the best looking in Suffolk.
Oh, well, if we can have gasoline stations along the downtown waterfront, next to churches and right across from Riddick's Folly, I suppose we can have one next to the bank and in front of Holly Lawn Cemetery.
Nothing quite like the convenience of filling up your car, emptying your bank account and visiting the grave of a loved one, all in one easy outing. And with the fluorescent light sure to pour from the service station, those with loved ones in the front part of the cemetery may add night visits as well.
Where does it stop? In case you've missed it, North Main Street, from the intersection of Main Street and Constance Road to the intersection of U.S. 460 and Virginia Route 10, is looking more and more like Mercury Boulevard on the Peninsula.
A section that once included big areas of vacant land now has competing signs announcing everything from auto parts to doughnuts. Stand at the intersection of Constance Road and Main Street, look toward Route 10, and determine for yourself if there's anything about the view that distinguishes Suffolk from, say, Emporia as it looks from the interstate.
The idea is not for Suffolk to resist commerce, including service stations, but to give some thought to the collective impact of one service station after another, one fast-food restaurant after another. Must our city's thoroughfares be clones of Mercury Boulevard?
There's an excuse for Mercury Boulevard. It developed in another era, when jamming businesses along the roadway was in vogue. The only excuse in Suffolk is that once proper zoning is in place, there's too little control of aesthetics.
There's a fine line between property rights, which are sacrosanct, and doing practically anything you want with property, including plunking down gasoline stations in unsuitable locations.
Suffolk, blessed with lots of open spaces along most of its major roadways, must not make the mistake of letting entrepreneurs turn it into another cookie-cutter city.
Recent developments, including gasoline stations seemingly popping up everywhere, make me wonder what the city will look like years down the road. So far, there's not a lot to give encouragement. by CNB