That's the question asked by outgoing Blacksburg council member Paul Lancaster after last night's 4-3 vote, turning down the proposed Sonic in the First & Main development. 

Wish I had the answer.  I've had two calls from friends this morning asking about the issue, and other than referring them to other posts on the topic, I don't know what to tell them.  I think we're making a mistake, arguing over loudspeakers in a retail center.  If the Sonic was to go where I think it was to go, I am virtually certain that there are louder, more nuisance-creating shops, service stations and the like throughout Town that are closer to residential areas than this would've been.

Before you tar and feather me ... I agree with one of the points against Sonic.  First & Main is a pedestrian-oriented facility, and the footprint of a Sonic certainly doesn't encourage walk-up traffic.  However, if I'm reading the tenant plan from May 18 correctly, it looks as if the location of Sonic was probably Outparcel #5, fronting on South Main Street.  Surely the traffic plan could have been modified to prevent pedestrians and cars from interfering with each other ...

Download first_main_tenant_plan.pdf

So what to do?  Listen, it's a Sonic, I don't know that I care that much about the fact that I can't get a $.99 milkshake (do they REALLY put milk in there, anyway?).  What I'm more concerned about is the fact that we're showing these retailers we're going to make it REALLY difficult to do business in Town limits.  That's disappointing.  And we're telling up and coming businesses, like Modea, or Mailtrust, or <insert CRC tenant list here> that we're not serious about providing their employees quality of life options.

If you enjoyed this post, why not leave a comment and subscribe via RSS or email here to be sure you don't miss the next post?